At the Beginning
by smoke-filled-sighs
Summary: AU (Anastasia style). A conman with an honest heart and an orphan without a past are pulled together along with a few other friends to embark on a journey battling not only against each other but as well as a revenge-seeking, undead enemy.
1. The Beginning

"_There was a time, not very long ago, when we lived in an enchanted world of elegant palaces and grand parties. The year was 1916..."_

Royals and nobles crowded into the Alexander Palace to celebrate the three hundred year anniversary of Romanov rule. It was an extravagant ball filled with excitement and cheer, for the privileged at least.

For the blonde boy that spied on the part from behind the throne area, it was only something he could watch and very be apart of. His name was Dimitri Enjolras, the son of a french widow who came to Russia for a new life after her husband was killed in Paris. Then the Romanov's kindly took her in and gave her a job and home for her son, she gave him a Russian name in honor of her very generous hosts.

At this point, he was in his early teens and had the makings to become a handsome man. With striking blue eyes and soft blonde hair, if he were dressed up right one would never think he was a servant. Unfortunately, he had been his whole life. Working in the kitchen with his mother, and he should be there now but he couldn't resist trying to get a peek at the party.

He ducked behind a wall and made sure he was unseen as the Dowager Empress Marie walked in and took a seat to look over the party, greeting her family with a happy wave and calling her granddaughter over to her.

The Princess Anastasia was probably one of the most loved of her siblings. She had a spirit and energy about her that infectious to anyone that spent time with her. She may have only been a child of eight years old, but she could capture anyone's attention when she spoke. Out of everyone, her closest relationship was with her grandmother.

Dimitri sat there watching almost longingly as Czar Nicholas spun his daughter around on the dance floor before releasing her to run to Marie. He couldn't hear much of the conversation over the loud music of the ball, but he narrowed his eyes as the Empress presented the Princess with a small box.

It was some sort of a jewelry box or music box. They opened using something that Marie held in her hands and it started to play music. Dimitri inched closer trying to hear the song the two started to sing together.

"Through the wind,  
Cross the sea.  
Hear this song and remember.  
Soon you'll be home with me.  
Once upon a December"

He dared to take another step closer trying to see what it was that the Empress was handing to the girl. He watched as she narrowed her eyes to read something on the object, but then heard footsteps approaching. "Dimitri!," the boy bit his lip and slowly turned around to give the butler an innocent face, "You're supposed to be in the kitchen!" His face fell as the butler reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him away from the ball. Dimitri looked back only once to see Anastasia excitedly hugging her grandmother.

Unfortunately, he had missed the best part of the night. Gossip filled the halls of the palace over the next couple days of how the ball was crashed by Rasputin. An evil monk the family had branded as a traitor. From what Dimitri had heard, the monk swore that the Romanov family would die within the fortnight. No seemed to have taken him serious, despite rumors that he practiced dark magic.

However one day, Dimitri stumbled across a young girl who seemed genuinely scared of this threat. He was helping his friend, Combeferre, place towels around the palace when he walked past Anastasia's toy room. She was crying. Against all voices telling him that it wasn't his place, he slowly entered the room and ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly causing the girl to jump a little bit with a gasp.

"I'm...I'm scared," she hesitantly said before relaxing and looking up at Dimitri, "What if that man succeeds."

"Well princess," Dimitri started as he leaned against a wall, "I hardly think that one man can take out an entire family without being noticed.

Anastasia didn't look convinced as she glanced out her window than back up at the boy, "I heard he practices the dark arts."

"There's no such thing as magic your highness," he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, but her face indicted she thought he was mocking her and his face fell to take on a serious expression, "If he tries anything there is a whole palace full of guards ready to protect you and your family, you'll be fine. I'll even protect you.

The girl giggled and now it was his turn to feel mocked, "You're just boy... and a servant. What training do you possess?" Her words were very matter of fact-ly and Dimitri just narrowed his eyes at her. Before he could reply, footsteps echoed down the hall and in a panic Dimitri quickly made his way from the room after apologizing to the princess for barging in. He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of a man selling his soul for revenge.

Two weeks later, however, the citizens of St. Petersburg charged on the palace. It was a revolution and they wanted the royal family's heads. The family was rushing out, trying to escape. Anastasia was running alongside her grandmother when she remembered something. She stopped in her tracks, "My music box!" She turned around and ran back to her room with her grandmother following her and yelling for her to come back

She got to the room and pulled the music box from where it was hidden in her dollhouse. Her grandmother joined her in the room and closed the door as a large crash echoed down the hall. The two of them in a panic started to for the other door of the room, but out of no where Dimitri ran up and tugged them over to the wall

"Come this way," he said pulling them, "out the servants quarters." He opened up the passageway and yelled for them to go. They both started down the small passageway, but Anastasia tried to come back, "My music box." Dimitri just pushed back in and told her to go before closing the concealed door behind her. Moments later men filled the room and pointed their guns at him demanding to know where the princess was. Dimitri didn't say anything, he just threw a vase at them resulting in the butt of a gun colliding with his head. He fell to the floor unconscious, the princess's treasured music box only inches away from his hand.

* * *

Enjolras sat straight up on his bed, startled away from his dreams. Even after ten years, the memories of that night plagued him. He lost that mother that day and had been on the run ever since. He thought he had saved the princess but she never left the country with the Dowager empress, and the men after them were constantly looking for him for answers. He was able to evade them, of course, and started just going by his last name.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and cradled his head in his hands, he knew he was only having this dreams because of his latest plan. This con would be his biggest pay off yet, but it forced him to revisit terrible memories. Enjolras ran a hand through his blonde hair as he walked over to the window, looking over St. Petersburg.

Anastasia was never found, and the rumor of her survival was still alive in this town. Even her grandmother hadn't lost hope and was offering a very nice rewards for her. Despite the little war with his morals, how could Enjolras pass this up?


	2. The Meeting

As the sun started to rise over the city of St. Petersburg, people groggily walked around ready for another dreary day. Gossip already trickling around the streets. Rumors in this city could spread quicker than the plague and for the past ten years the most popular rumor was about the survival of a certain princess. The lost Romanov princess, the one that Enjolras thought he had saved during the siege on the palace. His hope had since dwindled, but with this popular rumor came a promising opportunity.

He had been awake since the break of dawn, nightmares of the revolution making it hard for him to sleep. His mother's death didn't leave him with much and without employment at the palace, he became just another orphan on the street. He wasn't alone though, he had his childhood friend by his side. He and Combeferre stuck together as they grew up and made friends with other french boys who seemed stranded in the country.

As he got older, he became a very determined and focussed man who would dedicate himself to the job at hand. Incredibly smart with a quick tongue, with words he could stir nearly anyone into following him. In another life, he might have strived towards a better cause, but the latter part of his childhood caused him to focus on surviving as a homeless orphan. Even then, he kept to some personal morals. Conning only the wealthy citizens and doing what he could to help the poorer families survive.

Enjolras walked groggy eyes down the snowy streets, people rushing around him quick to get their long days of work over with. He made his way to the abandoned palace and leaned against a column to wait for his friend, Grantaire. His partner in crime. The only downfall was that he was a drunk.

Finally, Enjolras spotted his friend walking up the steps and he whistled to get the man's attention.

"Grantaire," he cleared his throat as his friend gave him a smirk and walked over to him.

"Monsieur Enjolras, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," Grantaire with a soft chuckle. He constantly insisted on speaking French rather than Russian, not that anyone in their group of friends minded. They were all french as well.

They made their way through the building and to the only room where they could light a fire. It seemed like everyone was already there and waiting for their leader to arrive.

"I didn't imagine you would be late," Combeferre said as the two entered the room.

"I was waiting for that one over there," Enjolras explained tilting his head in the direction of Grantaire who was already opening up a bottle of liquor. Enjolras just shook his head and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, "We're here for a reason, aren't we?"

"How exactly do you expect us to get away with this?," Grantaire asked as he sat down, "You're talking about getting someone to impersonate a Romanov."

"It'll be simpler than you think my friends," Enjolras said as he opened his satchel to pull out the small music box, "One look at this and the Empress will have no reason not to believe that our girl is her dear, precious Anastasia.

"You still have that?" Combeferre asked with a soft shake of his head.

"Where did you get it?" Courfeyrac asked leaning forward in his seat to get a better look.

"It doesn't matter," Enjolras answered simply and then looked at his best friend, "On both accounts." He looked down at the green and gold box in his hand. He could've sold it a long time ago, but something in him just could never part with it. Luckily, it finally came in actual use

"Well we still need a girl," Courfeyrac said with a shrug, "Perhaps I can help find a good one."

"Grantaire and I will be auditioning girls," Enjolras said before chuckling at the look of disappointment on his friend's face, "I'd ask for your help Courfeyrac, but I can't have you seducing the talent." Laughter erupted all over the room, but Enjolras kept a straight face as he glanced around the room.

"Where's Marius?," he asked with a sigh.

"He doesn't get back until later today," Combeferre answered promptly and Enjolras rolled his eyes.

"So against his relationship with that Cosette girl," Grantaire stated, "He's happier than we've seen him in a while."

"She distracts him from our work," Enjolras said running a hand through his blonde hair, "but their tryst works to our advantage right now." Everyone was supportive of Marius's relationship, but Enjolras saw love as nothing more than a distraction.

* * *

"I got you a job at the fish factory," Phlegmenkoff said trying to lead the young orphan girl from the house, but the she was too busy saying goodbye to all the other children, "Eponine, please," she said harshly finally getting the redhead's attention

"I'm sorry, I'm listening," Eponine said as she adjusted her scarf with one hand.

"The fish factory," the old woman started again. "Go down the road until you reach a fork in the road. Go left." She rolled her eyes as she turned to see Eponine no longer paying attention hugging Gavroche.

"Don't run away," Eponine said to the boy, "I'll come back for you once I have enough money."

She was suddenly jerked away when their caretaker grabbed her scarf and pulled. "You've been a thorn in my side ever since you brought here, acting like the Queen of Sheba instead of the nameless no account you are," she pulled her out of the house and towards the gates.

"The last ten year. I've fed you, I've clothed you, I've kept a roof ..."

"Over my head," Eponine finished a roll of her eye resulting in a scoff from the old crone. She simply played with her necklace as she walked, but Phlegmenkoff grabbed at it.

"Together in Paris," she said in a mocking tone, "So I suppose you want to go Paris to find your family?" Eponine nodded with a hopeful smile which dropped when the woman laughed.

"Little miss Eponine, it's time for you to take your place in life," she pushed her through the gate, "And be grateful too." She turned on her heel and made her way back to the house, laughing and coughing. Eponine let out a sigh as she looked at the house before turning to walk down the road.

The cold air accompanying the snow would've been considered harsh by anyone else, but Eponine walked on unaffected. She had spent the last decade living in these conditions, and was more use to the cold than she should be. She reached the fork in the road and looked between the two signs. One pointed to the fish factory while the other pointed towards St. Petersburg.

It turned into an internal debate. "Maybe...," she whispered to herself and she looked down the road for St. Petersburg. She didn't want to be just Eponine the orphan forever, she wanted to find out where she really belonged. Someone must have given her that necklace. A couple moments later a dog jumped out of no where and pulled her scarf from her. With a lighthearted giggle, she chased the dog up the path to St. Petersburg before stopping in her tracks.

Maybe this was the sign she was looking for. A dog. With one glance back at the fork in the road, she started to walk onward to the city. She was ready to just listen to her heart and go after the one thing she's been missing.

* * *

Enjolras just blinked at the woman audition, with a shake of his head he scribbled through her name on the list he had. "That's enough," he said with a forced smile, "We'll let you know." Grantaire was next to him with a bottle of beer, chuckling and shaking his head.

"This is just terrible," he said looking over at his friend.

"We'll find the right one soon enough," Enjolras said as the next girl walked on the stage. She was skinny and blonde. Enjolras furrowed his brow as he looked at her and heard a groan come from the man next to him. She dropped her coat to reveal a school girl's outfit.

"Grandma, it's me. Anastasia," she said with a shake of her hips and Grantaire's head fell onto the table in defeat.

"Thanks," Enjolras said dismissing the woman before he looked over at his friend and patted his shoulder, "Come on, let's get back to our little headquarters.

Outside, Grantaire started throwing paperwork on the ground and grumbling about how they were never going to be able to find the right girl.

"You're a lot more optimistic when you've had more to drink," Enjolras said causing Grantaire to laugh, "Besides, we just need to find a girl who can look the part, we can teach her the rest."

He went to walk beside his friend but accidentally bumped into someone. "Excuse you," a female voice snapped but he only shrugged and mumbled an apology before catching up with his friend.

Once they were back at the palace, everyone was getting a bowl of some kind of stew. Enjolras took his seat and leaned back as everyone started to doubt their plan.

"We're never going to find someone," Joly said as he sat down with his bowl.

"I think I know someone," Marius said as he entered the room.

"Look who's back!" Courfeyrac exclaimed as he stood up and excitedly went over to greet his friend. Enjolras looked up at him and offered him a smile.

"Who do you speak of, Pontmercy," Enjolras asked ignoring the sigh of the men who just wanted to welcome their friend back.

"A girl I was friends with at the orphanage," Marius said with a sigh, "She was barely nine years old when she was brought there and hadn't the slightest idea who she was."

Enjolras narrowed his eyes at the mention of the orphan. She would be the right and her amnesia would be an advantage, but he wasn't interested in manipulating some poor girl into believing she'd be reunited with her family

"Before he go manipulating a poor orphan girl, let's see if we can find someone else," Enjolras said as Combeferre pulled his aside.

"Don't you want to find her?" he asked in a hush tone, "The real her?"

"We both know the chances she's still alive are slim, mon ami," Enjolras said with a sigh.

"No we don't," he insisted, "You especially should be confident of her survival."

"Just because I got her out of the palace doesn't mean she survived the revolution," Enjolras shook his head and went to walk away from his friend, but Combeferre grabbed his arm.

"If she was killed, she would've been identified," he pointed out the very reason Enjolras had been hopeful in the weeks after the seige, but it had been so long and he just couldn't keep being hopeful about it. He parted his lips to respond but a loud crashing noise somewhere else in the palace caught his attention.

"Did you hear that?" he said leaving the room to walk down the hallway.

* * *

Eponine landed against the cold ground with a groan, the heavy wood in her hands nearly crushing her. She threw it aside and looked into the building. The old woman in line for the train told her that a man here could help her get to Paris. She crawled through the hole and looked around at the interior of the palace. "Wow," she said in awe of the unfaltering beauty. The more she looked around, the more a sense of familiarity came to her.

He fingers gingerly traced along some of the vases and dishes sitting on top of a table. It felt like she had been here before but she couldn't for the life of her remember ever being here. As she she continued throughout the palace, she stumbled into what looked like a ballroom. A large portrait of the royal family hung at the landing of two staircases. She walked down to look at it, her fingers tracing down some of the faces. She felt like she knew these people.

She shook off the feeling and turned around to gaze over the beautiful ballroom. It was like she could almost see the people dancing and hear the music playing. She sat down on the last step and just looked over the room.

"Hey!," she jumped up and looked up at the blonde man who had entered the room. He started to run across the room and in a panic she started to run from him.

"Hold on a minute!" Enjolras yelled as he caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She turned around in defeat to face him. "How did you...," his words trailed off as he looked back and forth between the girl and the painting behind her.

"What?" she asked looking at him in confusion.

"Enjolras," Grantaire's voiced echoed through the room as he joined them, "Did you catch yourself a girl? Never thought that would happened." He chuckled until Enjolras nudged him.

"Grantaire do you see what I see?" Enjolras asked and Grantaire looked away from his friend to the girl who was now shifting uncomfortable from foot to foot as they stared at her. His own eyes widened in surprised.

"What are you two staring at?" Eponine demanding with a frustrated sigh.


	3. The Decision

Enjolras's mouth dropped a little bit and his eyes were wide. The resemblance was uncanny. Unbelievable, even, and all he could do was stare and think about the last time he saw the princess. He tried to form words but he mostly stuttered as Eponine stared back at the two of them with an irritated expression. Luckily, Grantaire didn't have such a problem.

"Apologies," he cleared his throat and walked up the remained steps towards the girl, "You just happen to bear quite resemblance to... well... her." He gestured to the girl in the painting.

Eponine perked her eyebrow before letting out a laugh, "Are you drunk?" Grantaire only shrugged as the girl turned her attention back to Enjolras.

"Are you Dimitri?" His Russian name snapped him back to reality and he met this girl's brown eyes as she walked towards him. Grantaire chuckled as he brought his bottle to his lips, it always amused him when someone used Enjolras's first name.

"That would be me," he said looking her over, "but I do insisted you call me by my surname, si vous plait."

"Monsieur Enjolras," Grantaire offered and Eponine looked between the two of them, "and I'm Grantaine."

"Eponine," the redhead said furrowing her brow as she caught Enjolras studying gaze.

"Well what a coincidence," Grantaire said putting his arm around her, "Another lovely French person, we just attract them don't we?"

"I'm not from France," Eponine said look at him and shrugging off his arm, "As far I know I was born here."

"That's an odd name for a Russian lass," Grantaire said with a shrug.

"It was given to me," She glanced back at Enjolras who had narrowed his eyes at her answer, "I don't know my real name."

Enjolras and Grantaire exchanged a glance that made Eponine a little uncomfortable.

"Gospoja Eponine," Grantaire said, the Russian word sounding odd coming from him, "Do you know the story of this girl?" He pointed to Anastasia in the painting and his tone holding a certain implication.

"You can't be serious," Eponine said with a scoff but Grantaire only gave her a smirk.

"'Ponine?" The girl turned quickly at the familiar voice, a big smile gracing her face as she started to make her way down the stairs. "Marius!," she called as she bumped into Enjolras but kept running to her friend.

Marius pulled her into a hug, the warmth and comfort of his touch still causing butterflies to rise in her stomach.

"I didn't know you had left," he said rubbing his hands up her arms, "Are you eighteen already?"

Her smile dropped and she took a step away from him, "You probably lost track of time with you stopping writing, Monsieur."

"Oh 'Ponine, I'm sorry," he looked genuinely guilty causing her to reassure him by patting him on the shoulder.

"At least you haven't forgotten me," she gave him a warm smile which he returned instantly.

"Never."

"Marius," a voice came from behind him, "Is this the girl you were telling us about?"

"Yes, yes, this is Eponine," Marius answered and Eponine gave the man a smile.

"Combeferre," he said bowing his head and patting Enjolras on the shoulder, "It's a pleasure."

"'Ponine," Marius said pulling her attention back to him, "We're going to Paris." Anyone could see the flicker of excitement and hope in her eyes. Enjolras shook his head and walked over to them.

"Yes, but our last ticket is already reserved," his gaze flicked from Eponine to Marius, "Remember?"

"For who?" Eponine said looking the blonde man over. He was certainly handsome, but he also seemed a little too rude for her liking.

Enjolras smirked and lazily pointed over to the painting, "Anastasia."

"You're kidding right?" Eponine had to hold back her laughter as she saw that everyone wore a serious face, "The lost princess? What makes you think you'll find her."

"Well I'd say we just did," Courfeyrac joined the group and gently took Eponine's hand to kiss the back of it, "I'm Courfeyrac." Eponine smiled politely before pulling her hand away.

"'Ponine," Marius put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at the contact then gave him a half smile, "You were eight when you came to the orphanage and the last time anyone saw her was when she was that age... ten years ago."

"It certainly seems to add up," another man said as he leaned against the banister of the stairway, "Joly." He dipped his head in her direction.

"To a coincidence," she said nodding in reply to his greeting.

"You certainly look like her," Grantaire said walking closer to the group but Eponine just rolled her eyes.

"Your necklace," Marius said finding it under her scarf, "Together in Paris."

Enjolras leaned forward to look at the necklace and then his eyes flicked up to meet her gaze, "Anastasia's grand mother lives in Paris." He stood back up and studied her expression. He could tell part of her wanted to believe this. Enjolras looked over at Combeferre who looked about as unsure of this as Enjolras felt. The las thing he wanted to resort two was convincing an orphan he could reunite her with her family.

Eponine was silent with a complete loss for words. These men were honestly suggesting she was the lost Romanov princess. Of course it was absolutely insane, she was a no one. Yet, when she looked into Marius's eyes, she saw some sort of confidence that it was her. She glanced around at all the men in the room before finally meeting the eyes of the blonde leader.

"Dimitri," she said, causing his blue eyes to lock with hers, "Do you believe I'm her?"

"Enjolras," he corrected as he glanced at Combeferre. His friend nodded in submission that this was his decision. He hesitantly looked back at Eponine, her eyes were bit and hopeful. He licked his lips and nodded his head, "I believe you could be. Really, what is there to lose by coming with us to see?" Eponine tilted her head at his reaction, like she was now studying him instead.

"Come with us, 'Ponine," she slowly dragged her eyes to Marius's, "This could be your family."

She glanced around the room, feeling more and more anxious as she realized the decision was now up to her. Enjolras was the only one who seemed completely sure of what her choice would be, and that somehow made it more clear to her.

"I'll go," she said with reserve noticing everyone's smile in response.

"Come on, let's get you some food," Marius said placing a hand on her lower back to lead her back to the room they came from.

"Looks as though we've found our lost princess," Grantaire said with a smirk as he patted Enjolras on the shoulder.

"You really think it's her?" Combeferre asked him quietly as they trailed behind the group but Enjolras just shook his head.

"Of course not," he glanced up at the redhead again before turning to the sound of a dog barking. Joly picked up the dog and ran to catch up with them.

"He's coming with us," Eponine pointed out from ahead of them.

"Is that really necessary?" Enjolras asked with a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head.

"Absolutely," she said with a smirk before turning back to follow Marius.

As they got to the room, Eponine felt the warmth coming from the fireplace hit her face and let out a sigh of comfort at the feeling. She sat down at the table while Marius went to grab her a bowl of stew. She still had some reservations about this whole thing. Thinking that she was a princess, it was absurd. Yet, despite her attempts to think realistically she still held hope. She just wanted so badly for this to be real, for her to actually belong somewhere and to be more than what she was always told she was. She was determined to do just that, no matter the cost. One thing she learned in life was that she had to be strong and stand unafraid.

"You have perfect timing, 'Ponine," Marius said as he sat down next to her and set the bowl in front of her," he gave her a soft smile which she returned before looking down at her food.

"Marius," she said quietly looking back up at him, "Why did you stop writing?"

He hesitated only slightly before clearing his throat, "I found my family."

Eponine let a small oh sound escape her lips. She felt bad for thinking he had forgotten about her now. Marius and his parents were visiting the country when the revolution started, and both his parents died in the crossfire. No one came to claim him, leaving him trapped in the orphanage until he was of age to go home back to Paris on his own. The last she had heard, however, was that he was working with a group of men in St. Petersburg.

"It was a rough period, and I'm sorry I didn't keep in touch with you. I always reminded myself to write to you, but...," he trailed off unsure of what to say.

"But he was too wrapped up in his new found love with Cosette," Grantaire offered from the other end of the table with an amused look on his face. Eponine looked up and realized their conversation was as private as she had intended, but everyone seemed to be in their own conversations besides Grantaire and Enjolras. The leader of the group was regarding her with narrow eyes, still studying her like she was some puzzle he had to solve. She shrugged off the odd feeling it gave her and turned back to Marius.

"Yes, things have progressed with Cosette," Marius said finally giving her a happy smile. While his smile would usually make her feel warm inside, the fact this smile was because of another woman only made her heart sink a bit.

"How'd you find them," she asked, desperately wanting to change the topic.

"Enjolras," he tilted his head in the direction of the blonde who only lifted his head up high as she glanced at him "He was able to get a hold of my parents' death certificates and was able to point me in the right direction."

"When he went back to dear old Paris, he fell madly and deeply in love with Cosette," Grantaire mocked lifting his glass up, "Love at first sight, wasn't that what you said?"

Enjolras tilted his head as he noticed Eponine look down at the table and nibble on her lower lip.

"Anyway," Marius said rolling his eyes at Grantaire with a chuckle, "As it turns out, my family was informed I was killed alongside my parents. It's why they never came looking for me. Once I was able to prove who I was, they welcomed me back."

"Why didn't you stay?" Eponine asked shyly, "If you're family was there... and Cosette?"

"He had responsibilities here still," Enjolras answered instead and caught Eponine's gaze.

"Funny, I thought I asked Marius," she replied sharply causing Grantaire to choke on the drink he was taking as he chuckled.

"It's true though," Pontmercy said from beside her and she slowly left her glare at Enjolras to meet Marius's warm eyes, "I owed him one, and the men are my friends. All of us wanted to get to France, but until I got my inheritance, we didn't have the means."

Eponine tilted her head in curiosity, "Then why haven't you all moved there yet?"

Marius opened his mouth like he was going to speak but instead looked over at Enjolras who's gaze was still on Eponine. Once her eyes met his, he licked his lips and leaned forward, "We were kept here by other personal affairs. I'm sure they wouldn't be any interest to you seeing as you're more keen and keeping up with Marius than getting to know the rest of us."

"And you needed to find Anastasia," Eponine said challenging him and ignoring his comment regarding Marius, "Why were you looking for her."

The group was silent now and listening in, it wasn't every day someone challenged Enjolras. He simply smirked at her like he was amused by her boldness.

"We were looking for _you_ because Cosette's father is to be wedded to your grandmother," the words insisted she was the princess were filled with such confidence even Eponine wanted to believe them, "And she's been desperately searching for you since you went missing. Most of us being orphans ourselves wanted to repay Marius for generosity by helping him find you for his new lady's family."

Eponine was actually speechless, she just looked at the blonde man who sat at the opposite end of the table and slowly nodded her head in defeat.

"And you really think it's men?." She turned to ask Marius, causing Enjolras to roll his eyes.

"It would be one hell of a coincidence if you weren't 'Ponine," he answered in a sincere voice making her feel more comfortable about this decision.

"The train leaves tomorrow," Enjolras announced, "Once we arrive in Paris, we'll clean you up and teach you things that might help you remember your past."

"Clean me up?" Eponine said with a perked eyebrow.

"You don't really want to meet your long loss family looking like a homeless orphan, do you?" he asked as he stood up and looked over the room, "If you'll excuse me now." He promptly walked from the room. Eponine looked down at her baggy, ragged clothes and sighed. He was right.

"Don't let him get you down, my little princess," Grantaire said passing her a glass of whiskey, "he's serious by nature. Sometimes I swear he's like a marble statue."

"Yeah, we'll make sure he isn't too hard on you," Courfeyrac said with a smile which Eponine warmly returned as she noticed Combeferre also leave the room.

Enjolras rubbed his eyes as he walked down one of the empty hallways of the deserted palace, letting out a sigh at the echo of footsteps behind him.

"He don't have to do this," Combeferre said from behind him.

"We're all going to need that money once we're in Paris, mon ami," Enjolras said as though he was trying to convince himself, "It just doesn't seem right to convince an orphan that we'll reunite her with her family."

"It isn't right," his friend replied bluntly, "but Marius was right in there. It would be one hell of a coincidence."

"She isn't Anastasia, Combeferre," Enjolras said leaning against the wall.

"Then why are you going through with this if you don't think it's right," Combeferre asked him with a shrug.

"Because I kept you all here long enough," Enjolras said crossing his arms, "Marius has been offering to buy our way to France for months now and it was my insistence that kept us here."

"I suppose you don't understand this, but all the men in there have faith in you," Combeferre pointed out, "Your friends trust your judgement and would follow you accordingly."

"It's a good thing I'm not trying to lead you all into battle then," Enjolras said with a half smirk.

"We'd still stand beside you," Combeferre said with a chuckle.

Enjolras nodded with a soft smile as he looked down at the ground. During all his years pulling these sorts of tricks, he had always looked out for the poorer people of the cities. Part of him felt like he was betraying those ideals by giving in and taking Eponine to France. The whole reunion would be false and the happy ending the girl found would be a lie.

"We'll see how this goes," he said looking up at his friend. He felt bad manipulating the girl in this, but his friends were the only family he'd ever know. They were his brothers and they came first.


	4. The Train

"Don't you have any luggage, Mademoiselle?" Graintaire asked Eponine lazily as she walked up to him in the busy train station. His repeated use of the french language still threw her off quite a bit, but she was starting to get used to the out of place words. She shook her head with a small, polite smile and he furrowed his brow in confusion. He leaned against the wall lazily and perked an eyebrow up at Marius who was standing beside. "You don't have any actual possessions at the orphanage," Marius cleared his throat, "The only thing Phlegmenkoff lets us keep when we leave are the clothes on our backs, everything else belongs to her." As he finished his explanation his arm wrapped around Eponine's shoulders causing her to look up at him a warm smile. After all these years he still made her feel so safe.

"What a wonderful little care taker she is," the surprisingly sober Grantaire said with a roll of his eyes before standing up straight to acknowledge to presence of Enjolras as he walked up behind them. As he approached he eyed Marius and Eponine curiously but didn't say anything. Keeping his silent observations to himself as he usually did. He started to hand out tickets to all the men and gave Combeferre a small glance as he held the last ticket in his hand. His old friend was the only one who knew about his reservations to bring Eponine and present her as the Romanov princess and with a small sigh and nodd, his gaze quickly flicked to the girl in question.

"One for Anastasia," he said offering her the ticket. Her brown eyes flicked up from the ticket to meet his blue ones. He made sure his face seemed indifferent so that she wouldn't detect and form of doubt from him, but the longer her gaze held his the harder it was to maintain. He looked at the ticket and held his hand out more, "Are you going to take it or not?" Eponine bit softly on her lower lip as she took the ticket from his hand. This was it, they were going to go to Paris and she'd meet her family.

"One we arrive in Paris, we'll have to get her appearance taken care of," Enjolras said looking up at Marius. Eponine rolled her eyes and and looked down at the ground.

"Yes, I'm sure Cosette wouldn't mind helping to make 'Ponine more presentable," Marius offered only to receive a nod from Enjolas in response. The mention of his new love made Eponine wince a little.

"You two speak as though our little princess isn't already as fetching as can be," Grantaire said with a chuckle going over to softly pat her shoulder, "I doubt it'll be oh so difficult to dress her up to meet the Empress"

"Thank you, _Monsieur_," Eponine looked up at Grantaire with a smirk which he instantly returned and gave her a wink before starting to walk away from the group.

"Now I'm going to go find out if they'll be anything to drink on there." Eponine giggled softly as he waved his hand at them. Her smile faltered when she felt Marius pull his arm from her shoulders, the warmth instantly gone. Now he was facing her, a semi-worried look on his face.

"You know we meant no offense 'Ponine," he looked towards Enjolras who just watched on looking completely indifferent, "You know that, right? I'm sure you understand that we just want you to look your best for when you meet your grandmother." She wasn't mad at them for discussing cleaning up her appearance. After all, she knew she couldn't very well present herself as a princess looking the way she did now. Her red hair pulled up and hidden under a cap and an oversized men's coat concealing a baggy heavily worn dress. She knew they had a point, she just hated to admit it because Enjolras seemed smug enough without her adding to it.

"I know, Marius," she said looking up at him with admiring eyes, "you're right." She heard something like someone trying to stifle a scoff coming from behind Marius and leaned over to look at Enjolras.

"I'm sorry, Dimitri," she said getting his attention, "Was there something you wanted to say?" She didn't notice all the reactions to her bold words, but no one had expected her to speak to him like that. Courfeyrac and Joly both possessed looks of shock while Marius looked down at the ground sheepishly and Combeferre wore an amused expression. Enjolras, however, simply looked at her with a confused look on his face. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes as if studying her.

"Enjolras," he corrected in a stern tone, "And no, not at all. Just a quiet observation."

"Not so quiet if you ask me, not to mention rude." she spat back, challenging him. Joly had to balance the dog in one arm as he brought his hand up to his mouth in order to hold in some sort of laughter. She supposed no one talked to this man like so, but maybe he needed someone to. Enjolras continued his studying gaze for a few moments before looking away and at the group. "We should go ahead and board the train now," he said as he completely dismissed the incident with Eponine.

Eponine walked through the train with Marius finding the right compartment for them to sit in. She held the puppy in her hands, even though it was very eager to be able to explore the train on it's own.

"What are you going to name it?" Marius asked breaking the silence between them.

"Him. It's a boy," she corrected him with a light hearted smile, "I think I'm going to name it Gavroche."

"It must have been hard for you to leave him," Marius stated quietly, putting his hand on the small Eponine's lower back to guide her through the train car.

"He can look after himself with me gone," she said with a small sigh, "I'm just hope those parents of his don't come back for him. I'm sure the old crone would let them have him back."

"I doubt that would happen," Marius said with a smile, "The woman is cruel but even she ended up seeing why you did what you did. Plus, I'm fairly certain as soon as Gavroche finds a way out he'll come looking for you."

"He probably thinks I'm at that fish factory that Phlegmenkoff sent me too."

"No," Marius said with a soft shake of his head causing Eponine to look up at him, "Anyone who knows you well enough knows that you were going to find your way to Paris the moment you left." She gave him a genuine and warm smile which he returned almost instantly before opening a door to one of the compartments and motioning for her to go in. Eponine's gaze stayed on him as she walked by until was standing in the little compartment, and then her eyes dropped to see who else was there. Grantaire sat there already enjoying a bottle of wine, he looked up and gave her a smile. Her own smile faltered greatly when she saw the blonde man sitting by the window, his attention on the book in his hands and his legs propped up on the opposite seat.

She held in a groan and walked over to where she would be sitting just to stare down at the feet in her way. She cleared her throat loudly and gave Enjolras a pointed look. He simply glanced up at her from the book before removing his feet from the seat. Eponine sat down and let Gavroche down to explore the compartment once the door was close. She giggled as the puppy jumped up to lay down between Graintatire and Enjolras. The nice one of the two patting the dog on the head softly while Enolras simply shuffled over in his seat. Eponine rolled her eyes and propped her feet on the small space of the opposite seat that was between Enjolras and the side of the train. He looked down at her feet before glancing up at her. His blue eyes giving her an annoyed look but she did nothing but smile and turn her head to look out the window. He simply let out a sigh and returned to reading his book.

"Oh Enjolras, would it kill you to be a bit more entertaining?" Grantaire said with a laugh.

An hour or so had passed on the train and so far the ride had consisted of an amusing conversation between Eponine, Grantaire, and Marius while Enjolras just continued to read his book. Once Grantaire became increasingly drunk he started to doze off and things started to become more silent. Eponine went back to watching out the window not knowing that the blonde man across from her was glancing up at her from his book. She had such a curious look that he found interesting. He considered himself a man who had seen it all, despite never leaving Russia, but watching the look on this girl's face made him feel as though he shouldn't be quite so jaded about this little journey. After a few moments he closed the books and went to stand up.

"Where are you going?" Marius asked causing Eponine's attention to fall on Enjolras.

"To get some food," he answered opening the door, "They have some sort of a buffet car here."

"I'll come with you," Marius said but before standing up he looked over at Eponine, "Do you want anything?"

"No, thank you," she answered blandly, "I'm fine."

"'Ponine, don't think I haven't noticed how small you've become," Marius took a concerned tone.

"Well I became quite the troublemaker after you left," Eponine said with a chuckle.

"_After?_" Marius replied with knowing look before looking up at a waiting Enjolras and back at her, "You should eat, I'll bring you back something." He stood and left before Eponine could protest anymore, stepping out of the compartment to join his friend."

"What was that about?" Enjolras inquired, "The troublemaker thing."

Marius cleared his throat and looked over at his friend, "Our care taker at the orphanage had horrible punishments, one of them being no meals. She considered it a privilege that she let us eat her food so when she felt we were acting out, she'd take that away."

"That's terrible," Enjolras said shaking his head, "Did it happen to Eponine a lot?"

"Yes," Marius said a small smile on his lips as he remembered some incidents, "She didn't like to put up with the rules very much."

"That doesn't seem so surprising," Enjolras said simply as he put his hands in his pockets.

"It's not how you think," Marius said stopping in his tracks, his friend looking back at him with a curious expression, "One time a family came, one interested in adopting her. They were terrible people, Enjolras, truly terrible. They already had a son, a small child who was deeply neglected. They wanted to adopt her so they could make money off of her." His tone implicated things that made Enjolras's stomach turn a little bit. "Not only did she stop them from adopting her, but she hid the child away so he could stay there. His parents didn't even notice his absence. She lost meal privileges for a week because of that stunt, though I would sneak some of my own food. It wouldn't surprise me if this 'trouble' she continued to get herself into was just her giving the poor boy some of her own food."

"You'd wouldn't eat because you fed another?" Enjolras asked in shock.

"No," Marius said starting to walk again, "Apparently it showed we didn't respect the rules enough. I know Gavroche, and I know his mouth gets him into trouble. As I said, he most likely wouldn't get fed so Eponine would see to it that he did."

Enjolras was very silent for a moment, not sure of what to say about that. Clearly, he didn't know a thing about this girl or what she was like. He could admire her morals though, that was something. He cleared his throat and looked over to his friend, "Well she seems to be quite something."

"Indeed," Marius said in agreement.

"How close were you two exactly," Enjolras asked, his tone nearly accusing.

"What are you implying?" Marius asked a bit shocked at his friends tone.

"She just seems to be taken with you is all," Enjolras said with a shrug but Marius only shook his head with a chuckle.

"We practically grew up together, Enjolras, I only left a year and a half before her," Marius explained, "She's like a sister to me and I'm probably the only person she's ever trusted."

"And you're okay taking advantage of the trust and manipulating her into thinking she's someone she's not?" Enjolras asked in a bland tone.

"Excuse me?" Marius stopped his friend, "I'm not manipulating her."

"You can't possibly believe she's the Romanov princess," Enjolras said shaking his head.

"I do actually," Marius answered but when Enjolras gave him a knowing look he let out a sigh, "I think it's possible, I truly do." His faith made Enjolras feel a little nauseous and he turned to look back to where their compartment was.

"I don't think I'm hungry after all," he said and started to walk away. The friend behind him started to speak up but he dismissed him with a wave of his hand knowing that Marius wouldn't protest after that.

"He grows on you, you know," Grantaire said moving his head to look at the redhead who's head was slowly turning to meet his gaze.

"Who?" She asked quietly.

"Enjolras," Grantaire said before looking down at his bottle, "He's just a very serious sort and doesn't focus much on things other than the job."

"The job?" Eponine asked but Grantaire dismissed her question.

"He may not know how to interact with lovely young women such as yourself, but he's a good man," the black-haired man gave her a warm smile, "You'll see." It was then that Eponine noticed just how loyal all these men were to each other, and to Enjolras. Even if he made her want to rip her own hair out, it was something to be admired. Just then, the man in question came staggering back into the compartment. He looked around at the two and then down at the dog who was now asleep in his seat.

"Come on," he said to the dog, "get down."

"Leave him alone," Eponine looked up at him, "he's comfortable."

"He's a dog," Enolras replied bluntly.

"Well we let you sit there earlier," Eponine spat caused sleepy laughter to come from Grantaire. Enjolras merely rolled his eyes and sat down next to the girl with a sigh.

"I doubt the Empress will appreciate her daughter being so rude to someone," Enjolras said but he noticed that Eponine's full attention was out the window.

"Oh my god," she exclaimed causing Enjolras to jump up and look out the window next to her. As they looked, they saw the bridge that the railroad laid on collapse. Eponine turned back and noticed Grantaire was now fully alert and sitting forward in his seat. Enjolras continued looking out the window, completely surprised.

"What just happened?" Grantaire asked as the ground started to rumble from the vibrations of the collapse.

"The bridge," Enjolras said looking back, "it's just... collapsed."

Eponine looked around, fear suddenly takin over her features, "Why isn't the train stopping?" The three of them looked at each other in a panic right before Marius slammed the door up. He was frantic and his face was flushed.

"Nobody's driving this train."

"What?!" Eponine exclaimed standing up in a panic, but a firm hand gripped her shoulder gently as if to calm her down. She looked up to see a very calm looking Enjolras stepping forward.

"What do you mean?" He asked. If there was any fear within him she couldn't see it.

"The bridge collapsed and the train isn't slowly," Marius started sputtering out, "I've asked around but no one's had contact with the conductor since right before the train took off."

Enjolras quickly looked around at the three of them before getting lost is some sort of thought that Eponine couldn't even begin to try and follow. Without a word he walked past Marius and out of the compartment. He looked back at the three of them and licked his lips.

"Alright, I want you three to get everyone to get to farthest back car possible," he said and Eponine shook her head and looked at him confused. By this point Grantaire was standing and walking over to his friend.

"Where are you going?" He asked as their other three friends joined them in the car.

"I'm going to stop the train," Enjolras answered walking away from them before anyone could protest but turned back before moving onto the next car, "Just get to the back of the train and if it doesn't slow, jump out onto the snow." With those words he was gone and everyone looked at each other. Combeferre was the first to break the silence.

"Come on, let's get all the passengers to the back of the train," his words went unheard as all eyes were still on that door that their leader had just left through but Combeferre cleared his throat loudly, "Come on!" Everyone snapped to reality and followed him to the back of the train. Marius stopped in his tracks when he saw Joly carrying the dog. He looked around frantic and Grantaire ran up to him.

"What is it, Marius? We've got to go," he tried pulling his friend but Marius just pulled his arm out of Grantaire's grasp taking a few steps back to the previous train car.

"Where's Eponine?"


	5. The Accident

Enjolras carefully climbed down to the entrance of the the engine room, black smudges from the coal he just climbed over covered his clothes and hands. He wiped some sweat from his forehead before pulling the door open. He walked in and tried to stop his eyes from watering due to all the smoke in the room. Narrowing his eyes, he saw the shape of a man laying on the floor. Enjolras ran over to him and checked to see if he was okay, shaking his head and giving a small pray upon realizing the man was dead. The blonde then stood up and walked over the lever that was controlling the engine, taking his coat off to cover his hands as he tried to pull the lever into the opposite position.

He let out a small grunt as he pulled, the lever was stuck. Enjolras let out a string of obscenities as he continued pulling as hard as he could, only to fall back as the lever snapped off. A small groan escaped his lips as he landed hard on his back and the lever landed on his face. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered as he got up as quickly as he could and ran over to the door. The train was going full speed off a cliff, and Enjolras was at a loss for how to stop it. He climbed back over the coal car and jumped to land down on the opposite end he almost lost his footing after a small shriek startled him.

"Enjolras?" the voice said and he could make out Eponine's face in the pale light.

"What the hell are you doing, Eponine," Enjolras said walking through the car and opening the door on the other side. This car was only connected to the rest of the cars by a metal pin and some chains, he could break it and the back portion of the train would slow to a stop. He quickly looked around for something he could use to smash the pins.

"I came to help," she said following his movements with her eyes. all his concentration and focus was on stopping the train. Enjolras didn't respond as he started to club at the pin and chains with hammer he found only for the head of the hammer to break off. He sat there contemplating his next move until he noticed the girl next to him holding a couple sticks of dynamite.

"Where did you find those?" He questioned in astonishment and she simply smirked back at him.

"I just know where to look," she said as he took the dynamite from her and place it securing between the chains.

"Get onto that car," he ordered but she looked at him as though conflicted.

"Eponine," he yelled, "Now!" She nodded and carefully hopped over the next car before turning to watch him ignite the dynamite. Enjolras searched his person but couldn't find the lighter. "Damn it," he said under his break before looking up at the girl across from him, "Stay there, I'll be right back." He ran off before she could ask what he was doing. He made his way over the coal car yet again and jumped down in the engine room, grabbing the coat he left there right before the engine nearly explode blasting him back against the door. With a groan he stumbled to his feet and moved from the car. He didn't realize how disorientated he was until he nearly slipped off the ladder leading up to the top of the coal car. He had to slow down his movements as he made his way back to Eponine who had obeyed his last command and stayed sitting at the edge of the train car.

He jumped down and entered the the car across from her, stumbling a little bit and coughing as he made his way over to the chains. "You're bleeding," he heard her exclaim over the sounds of the rattling train but just waved his hand at her to dismiss her concern. He pulled the lighter from a coat pocket and threw the coat to the side. After a couple attempts to get the lighter to work, a flame flickered and finally lit the dynamite."

"Enjolras," Eponine said standing up and holding onto the side of the car, "Jump! Come on, hurry!" In his hazy state he almsot forgot he was on the side of the train that was going off the cliff. He stood carefully and looked at Eponine, with a nod he jumped onto the car taking Eponine down with him. She let out a shriek of surprise as she went down and rushed to sit back up only to have him pull her down and cover her body with his own. "Stay down," he said sternly right before the dynamite went off. Eponine felt like she could feel the heat of the blast roam up her body and pulled Enjolras closer to her in fear. One the heat was gone she lifted her head and looked up at Enjolras, whose face was only a few inches from her own. She was about to say thank you when he shook his head and sat up.

"Don't thank me yet," he said gesturing to the track they were still going down full speed down. They were quickly approaching the collapsed bridge and it was a slim chance they would slow to a stop before going over. He started throwing things in the train car out to slow down the train but everything broke until Eponine noticed some kind of spare part. He helped her bring it to the edge and they threw it over. Everything happened so quickly but she could remember the wheel popping off of the track as the train derailed and the car they were in started to flip over. Enjolras's strong arms pulled her back from the edge and pressed them back on the floor of the car as it tipped. She kept her eyes closed shut until the movement slowed. She looked up and was happier than ever to see the cold snow invading the inside of the car. The heavy breathing of the man holding her slowed and she looked over to him.

"Thank you," she nearly whispered taking in his blue eyes as the looked down at her.

The cold air rushed into the tipped over train car. Muffled voices were shouting all throughout the rest of the train. Cries of panic for the most part. Neither Eponine or Enjolras knew what happened to the rest of the train, but neither of them made a move to get up and go see. Instead they stayed where they were, laying down in the corner of the car. His arms were still wrapped around her and her hands continued to clutch at his shirt. Both of them waiting for their breaths to even out and the adrenaline that the situation caused to cease. Eponine's eyes flicked from the man lay over top of her to the snow that was barreling in through the side of the car, a shiver from the other body leading her to realize he was still holding on because he was cold.

"You must be freezing," she whispered looking up at him. He only nodded at her statement but added a small careless shrug. Before she could say anything else the door to the car rolled open and slammed against the other end of the doorway. Enjolras jumped up from his position, but stayed crouching over her as he looked up.

"There you two are," Grantaire said with an amused smile before looking behind him and calling out to the others, "I found them."

Enjolras stood up slowly, offering his hand to the redhead below him so he could help her up. She smiled and took his hand, pushing herself from the ground. As she stood up and tried to steady herself and sharp pain radiated from her ankle causing her to fall over a little, but without fail two strong arms grabbed hold of her shoulders in a gentle yet firm grasp.

"Are you alright," Enjolras asked looking down at her legs.

"Yes," she nodded and looked up at him, "My ankle must have landed wrong during all the chaos."

"I'm sorry," his apology took her off guard and she gave him a look that was between surprised and confused.

"What for, Enjolras?" she questioned softly, "You did nothing but make sure I was safe."

He only responded with a small smile before making sure she was steady and walking up the tilted car. Grantaire had an amused expression on his face as he watched his friend turn back to help Eponine up the car. As the two joined him, Enjolras walked past him and into the next car. Grantaire gave the girl a silly smile before letting her drape her arm around his shoulder to help her walk through the train cars. They were joined soon enough by the rest of the men and Marius rushed over to them.

"'Ponine!," he said looking her over, "What were you thinking"

"That he might need some help," Eponine said as she removed her arm from Grantaire and sank down to sit on the floor of the car, "I couldn't let him save the entire train by himself, the heroics might give him a big head."

Enjolras looked over at her from where he was standing with Combeferre and Courfeyrac, he shook his head but Eponine swore she saw a smirk playing at the ends of his lips.

"I wasn't much help though," she said quietly as Marius crouched down to look at her ankle. She let out a hiss when he tried to move it.

"Joly," Marius looked over at his friend who was looking at Enjolra's head, "When you have a minute, she hurt her ankle." He gave them a nod and returned to making sure Enjolras was okay.

"I hate to be the one to point this out," Combeferre started, "But where exactly do we go from here?"

"I noticed a small train station not too far back," Joly said as he made his way over to Eponine, "there probably isn't a town too far from there."

"It's dark now," Enjolras started looking around at everyone, "Let's rest here and we can make our way to that town in the morning."

It was a silent agreement except for Eponine's small squeak as Joly examined her ankle. Luckily, nothing was broken or sprained. Apparently it was just irritated and would feel better soon. After making sure she was okay they all made their way to the passenger cars where they found many other had already left the train in search of help. The majority of the train was still upright, only a few cars were tiled but they were perfectly good enough to sleep in. Some salvaging on the train revealed some blankets for them to use and they all were able to separate to different compartments to sleep in.

It had been a few hours into the night when Eponine started to hear the soft snoring of the other men. She was curled up on the floor of the compartment, it wasn't anything that she wasn't use to. She ofter slept on the floor of the orphanage due to a shortage of beds. For some reason though, she couldn't fall asleep. She just laid there as awake as can be with little Gavroche curled up at her feet. She laid there humming to herself until she started to hear some sort of mumbling coming from the room next to her. She sat up a bit not sure of what to do. Enjolras was in that room and he must have been having some sort of nightmare, not too bad of one though. She stood up after deciding she should at least check on him. She wrapped both her blankets around her shoulder and she tip toes lightly from her her compartment.

She quietly slid part of the door to Enjolra's open a little bit, he was there mumbling things under his breath. He seemed fine besides the shivering. Eponine let out a sigh when she realized the blanket he had was barely thick enough to keep him warm in this weather, especially since he no longer had a coat to wear. She nibbled on her bottom lip not sure of what to do, but instinctually took one of the blankets from her shoulder and crept into the room to lay it over him. She kneeled down quietly and made sure the blanket covered him, but before she could get up and leave she heard his mumblings more clearly.

"The servant's quarters," he said nearly breathlessly and Eponine's brow furrowed. Seems he was just sleeping talking about nonsense rather than having a nightmare. His face still looked more disturbed than it would be if it were just a dream. She patted his hand lightly before trying to silently get up. Her movements froze at his next words.

"Mother...," he turned over on his side, "...no..." Eponine felt her heart drop and sudden sadness wash over her. She remember back to the first day they had met and he announced that most of the men were orphans. He was having a nightmare. She looked around unsure of what to do but just sank down onto the seat of the compartment and looked down at him nibbling on her bottom lip again. Letting out a soft breath, she laid down on the seat and face the man sleeping on the floor. One hand was tucked under his head and the other just laid on the blanket, she looked at him as she drapped her arm down from the seat and gently set her hand over his. As she started to fall asleep, part of her was telling her to leave and return to her own compartment but this nagging voice in her head told her that she'd feel guilty if she didn't stay. This man might frustrate her to no end, but he didn't save her life and he knew her pain. Only his was worse, he had no chance of reuniting with his family.

Enjolras's eyes fluttered open suddenly at the sound of a door sliding closed further down the train car. He blinked a couple times getting his bearings until his eyesight focussed on the presence of another hand laying over his. His face scrunched up as he looked up to find Eponine sleeping peacefully on the seat above him. He sat up careful not to disturb the touching hands and just stared at at them utterly confused.

"Eponine," he said quietly she he lightly tapped her shoulder, "Eponine, wake up." The redhead's eyes opened slowly as she let out a small yawn, her hand coming back up to her side as she started to stretch. She let out a sigh and looked at the man who was sitting up and looking at her with a bewildered expression. She shot up and looked down at Enjolras who's expression didn't change.

"I..," she didn't know what to say, she just looked down at the ground and ran a hand through her hair. That's when Enjolras noticed that her long hair was down around her shoulders instead of pulled up and kept under a cap like it had been since they met. He cleared his throat trying to call her attention to him, but she continued looking down as though embarrassed.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked breaking the silence between them.

"Well," she looked up at him shyly then back at the ground, "I came to check on you and you looked cold so I just thought I'd give you one of my..."

"You came to check on me?" he interrupted her with a quizzical look.

"You were talking in your sleep, Enjolras," she said finally looking up and making eye contact with him but he looked away this time. He shook his head not wanting to address what he was dreaming about, a hint she luckily picked up on.

"And you decided to stay in here, why?" He returned to his questioning and she let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, her shyness now gone.

"You seemed to calm down some with me in here," she said with a shrug, "and I felt like I owed you one, since you saved my life last night and all."

He perked an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. She pursed her lips and looking down at her hands as the played with the edge of her blanket. He let out a sigh and stood up letting out a sudden shiver as the cold air hit him harsher than he was expect. Eponine looked up at him and rolled her eyes as she stood up along with him, removing the oversized coat she was wearing and hold it out to him.

"It should fit you," she said. His eyes flicked between her and the coat she was offering him for a few moments before he shook his head.

"That won't be necessary," he said running a hand through his blonde hair as he walked over to the door of the compartment. Eponine rolled her eyes and let out a groan.

"You're so stubborn, Enjolras," she said draping the coat on his shoulder before sliding the door open, "I've lived through worse snows than this wearing less. You, however, haven't." She didn't say another word as she walked out of the small room and back to her own compartment. He slowly exited a few moments after her and his eyes fell upon Grantaire walking towards him with an amused smile on his face.

"Couldn't let someone who actually enjoys women have her company?" he said perking his eyebrows up at his friend. Enjolras only gave him a stern look in response and Grantaire held up his hands in surrender.

"I honestly think it's about time for our marble leader to expand his fancies," he said and got a glare from Enjolras.

"It truly wasn't what it looked like," he said taking the coat from his shoulders and shrugging it on. It fit him nearly perfectly. He let a small humm at the realization and looked up at Grantaire to catch his accusing stare, "Neither is this." Enjolras rolled his eyes and changed the subject not feeling the need to explain anything to his friend, "We should wake everyone and head out to find that town." Grantaire let out a sigh and shook his head before walking down to wake up some of the men.

The door to the right of Enjolras slid open and Eponine walked out, pulling her hair up as she moved. She gave him a small smile as she pulled her hat on over her hair. For the life of him, Enjolras couldn't understand why she hid her hair like that.

"You shouldn't hide your hair like that," he suggested, "Everyone always loved Anastasia's hair." Eponine looked up at him as she pushed from tucks of hair from her eyes and only responded with a shrug.

"'Ponine," both of them turned to greet Marius, "How is your ankle." She glanced down at her ankle before giving her friend a warm smile.

"It's better," she said gazing up at him, "It'll probably get better the more I walk on it."

Marius returned her smile and nodded at her answered. His eyes flicked to Enjolras who was still looking down at Eponine's ankle and seemed lost in his thoughts. Marius gave him a double take as he looked him over.

"Is that her coat?" he said pulling Enjolras from his thoughts.

"What?" Enjolras said meeting his friend's eyes. Soft laughter came from Grantaire as he walked by the group, earning a glare from Enjolras.

"His was ruined in during the whole ordeal yesterday," Eponine answered for him, "and I've dealt with worse conditions."

Marius chuckled softly and pulled his friend to him in a small hug. "Oh my little Eponine," he said, "always so thoughtful." Enjolras eyed the two of them, noting how Eponine's eyes closed in contentment at the contact and she didn't seem to want him let go when he started to pull back. He shook his head subtly wondering just how long this girl had been in love with him, and how long he has been absolutely clueless to it. In a motion that took Enjolras be surprise, Eponine's eyes opened and immediately flicked over to meet his gaze. He saw a blush come to her cheeks as if she realized that her affection for Marius wasn't as much as a secret as she thought.


	6. The Inn

Eponine sat on a bench on the platform outside the small train station while Joly checked over her ankle. Grantaire sat next to her, holding her small dog in his arms so that it wouldn't run off and get lost. All the other men either stood leaning against the walls of the railing while Enjolras was inside talking to the workers. The chilly air cause Eponine to shiver and bit and Joly looked up at her, "I'm sure Enjolras wouldn't mind returning your coat." She shook her head with a small smile, "That wouldn't be necessary. He'd be worse off in this weather without a coat than I." Joly simply shook his head with a chuckle and gently let go of her foot.

"There's no still no swelling," he said standing up, "How does it feel when you walk on it?"

"A little sore, but better than before," she offered before another thought entered her mind, "I know you all think I'm some princess, but Enjolras was probably hurt worse than me."

"He insisted he was fine," Joly said with a roll of his eyes, "He doesn't seem to have inhaled much smoke and I've already tended as well as I can to any burns and cuts."

"Perhaps when we get to town, we can get proper bandages for burns on his hands," Combeferre offered, "Until then there's not much else we can do for him."

Eponine just nodded silently before her attention went to the opening door. Enjolras wished the workers a good day as he exited the building. He turned back to his friend and cleared his throat.

"The nearest town in a couple miles down the road," he started but Grantaire's groan stopped him from saying anything else.

"More walking," he said with a shake of his head.

"It's only a couple miles," Eponine said nudging him with her shoulder, "Do you want me to carry you?" Grantaire let out a chuckle as well as some of the other men in the group. Enjolras remained reserved and just looked down the path.

"It took us most of the day to get here," he said interrupting the lighthearted exchange, "We should get going before it gets dark."

"Scared of the dark?" Courfeyrac said with a smirk.

"Do you want to camp in the snow, mon ami?" Enjolras said with a perked eyebrow. His friend held up his hands in defeat and they all started to make their way from the platform. The walk down the road was mostly silent, save the occasional sarcastic comment from Grantaire and the whispers of Combeferre and Enjolras who walked ahead of everyone else. Eponine just trudged along with automatic strides completely lost in her own thoughts.

She was still coming to terms with the fact that Marius was indeed in love with this Cosette girl and that her own affections were most likely wasted on him. Even knowing that, she couldn't help the way her heart raced when he smiled at her or how a few calming words from her made the world seem better. It felt silly, to focus on something like this when she was on the way to meet her long lost family. She just couldn't shake these thoughts. Without knowing why her eyes flicked over to Enjolras who seemed to have finished the conversation with Combeferre and turned to meet her eyes as he friend came over to her. It took a few moments for her to pull her eyes away from his blue ones, but she looked up at the man in front of her with a soft smirk.

"It's going to take longer to get to France now," he said falling into step next to her, "we'll have to go by boat, which means we'll need to start your lessons early."

"Lessons?" Eponine looked at him confused.

"I mean no offense, Eponine, it's just that we figured you'd like to be able to present yourself with more grace when you meet your grandmother," Combeferre looked at her and let out a sigh, "Somewhere in you, you already know all this. We just want to bring it out, so you don't feel so out of place once you're reunited with your family."

Eponine nibbled on her lip lightly and looked back down the road. "I also mean no offense, Combeferre, but how would you know what to teach me?"

"I worked in the palace," she looked up at him in surprise, "As did Enjolras. We saw the way young ladies had to carry themselves, though he was younger than me and wasn't quite as observant."

"You worked in the palace?" she asked with astonishment, "Why didn't either of you ever tell me?"

"We don't make it known," he said looking forward, "Especially in the days following the seige. I'm sure there are still come people who would like to question Enjolras."

"Why?" she looked over at the blonde man leading the group.

"Not my story to tell, ma cherie," Combefere said with a little smile, "I would like to start now."

"What?" She said pulling her gaze from Enjolras.

"I would like to start teaching you now," he looked over at her with a soft shrug.

"What could we possibly go over at this moment?" she furrowed her brow as she looked up at him.

"Posture perhaps," he said stopping her with a hand to the shoulder and turning her to face him, "We can teach you how to walk like a royal."

Eponine rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, waving her hand in submission. Combeferre smiled and then walked around her to face her side. A hand slid up her back straightening out and she tried to hold the position as he straightened out her shoulders.

"You have to stand up straight," he commented, "it gives you more of a presence."

"Like Enjolras and you," she noted watching him walk with nearly perfect posture.

"Yes," Combeferre answered, "As servants we had to learn how to be in the presence of the royals." Eponine could help the giggle that came out. Here she was, the assumed Romanov princess and the last thing she cared about was how this group of men looked in her presence.

"Hold out your arms and walk in a straight line, light steps as well," he instructed, "It'll help you with balance."

She sighed before holding her arms out and started to walk down the road. She stumbled as she tried walking by placing one foot directly in front of the other. Grantaire was now walking backwards with an amused grin as he watched her.

"Don't walk, princess, float," he chuckled as she stuck her tongue at him before stumbling himself a little bit a turning around so he could see where he was going. Eponine giggled a little bit and then tried walking again.

"I feel like an idiot walking like this," she said with a groan. Combeferre straightened out her shoulders again and chuckled.

"You'll feel a whole lot better when people aren't looking down on you," his words caused her to sigh again. There was nothing she could really do to argue his point. It was true. She would feel better and less out of her element if she knew how to present herself.

Over the next hour or so, the group came closer to the small town. Combeferre had let Eponine take some breaks so they could keep up with the group, but they mostly lagged behind while he tried to keep her walking with more grace. The other men of the group would look back and chuckle and joke with her about it. All except Enjolras who only stole quick studying glances at the girl as she continued to learn proper balance. Once they arrived a the town, Combeferre allowed her to stop and run to catch up with the group. He took his time as he followed.

"Marius, try and see if there are any rooms at the Inn," Enjolras said looking back at the group, "I'll go see if there are any docks nearby where we can board a ship. I'll probably be able to find a cabin or two for us." He barely waited for everyone to agree before walking off by himself. The rest of the group proceeded to enter a very busy looking Inn.

"Excuse me, Miss," Marius said catching the attention of a woman carrying towels, "We were just in a bit of a train acc..."

The woman cut him off by turning to yell at a man behind the counter, "More people from the train accident darling."

"Seems we weren't the only ones with this plan," Courfeyrac commented.

"Not at all, we are the closest town after all," the woman said shook her head, "You've should've seen it last night. Some people had to open their houses to strangers because we had no more room." The men all looked around at each other a tad unsure of what to do next. Eponine stayed towards the back of the group with Combeferre.

"Oh heavens, we have room now," the woman said with a smile, "Well at least a room or two. A lot of people left earlier today."

"Well we would like those room m'am," Marius said and the woman asked them to wait a second before going to talk to her husband. She came back a few minutes later and look at the group.

"I'm afraid we've only two rooms available at this point in time," she gave them an apologetic look.

"We'll take them," Marius said pulling his wallet out from his person.

"We can share the rooms," Courfeyrac added. The woman's eyes fell upon Eponine and a worried expression came over her face.

"What my friends mean, madam, is that the gentlemen in our company can share a room and our female friend can have the other," Combeferre spoke up stepping forward a bit.

"Oh no!" Eponine said, "That's not necessary, I don't need a room to myself."

Combeferre turned around to address her in a quiet tone, "It would not be appropriate for you to room with us, Eponine."

"But Enjolras said he'd only be able to get a room or two on a boat and..." Combeferre shook his head interrupting her thoughts.

"Sailors would not look upon our situation the same away a modest innkeeper and his wife would," he cleared his throat and turned back to the woman with a smile and a nod. She looked unsure but pulled her daughter aside to show them to their rooms. She said dinner would be available shortly and for them to all make themselves at home. Once time for dinner came they all rushed down to eat, Enjolras joining them soon afterward. The meal was silent for the most part, apart from him informing them that the boat would leave tomorrow and land take them to Germany. As dinner finished up the wife approached them.

"Is there anything else you'll be needing?" she asked as she collected dishes.

"Would you mind running a bath for Eponine?" Enjolras asked and she nodded.

"Of course, sir," she looked him up and down, "Not to be forward, but you look as though you need one as well."

Enjolras chuckled softly and shook his head, "Worry about her for now, I can wash up tomorrow before we depart."

Eponine sat there watching the exchange silently wishing she could make some decisions for herself. Sure, she probably needed to wash up after the incident on the train but she would've like the privilege of asking for herself.

"'Ponine," Marius asked from beside her, "I have a surprise for you." She looked over at him and tilted her head.

"A surprise?" she shook her head softly and giggled, "Marius that isn't.." He held up his hand and shook his head.

"Cosette helped me pick them out on my last trip to Pais," her face fell a bit at the mention of Cosette, "I got them with you in mind, of course, but I'm afraid I wasn't expecting to have become quite so small."

Eponine looked up at him with questioning eyes, "What?"

He presented a box that he had carried down with him for dinner and she looked between him and it a couple times before hesitantly taking it. Enjolras watched the exchange from his seat, one eyebrow perked. She opened the box revealing two dresses and a sleeping gown neatly folded.

"Marius, no, I can not accept these," she pushed the box across the table towards him but froze when he laid his hand over her own. Her heart fluttered at the contact and she looked up at him with big eyes.

"'Ponine, consider these my apology for not keeping in touch," he smiled at her warmly, "I would like my best friend to be well dressed when she's reunited with her family." Eponine only nodded and looked down. Marius didn't noticed the sadness that filled her eyes when he referred to her as his best friend. But Enjolras did. He shook his head subtly and let out a sigh. Grantaire put down his cup of wine and looked over at Combeferre.

"Perhaps we should take this time to teach our little princess how to greet others," he said with a lopsided smile. She sighed at the thought of more lessons but nodded her head with Combeferre stood up and offered his hand.

"You already eat quite politely," he noted as she stood, "and this won't be as frustrating as the balance one." She smiled as everyone stood up except for Grantaire who decided to sit out and enjoy more of his wine.

She walked around to her companions practicing how to bow with grace and address them, everyone now and then a joke would be made and the group would laugh. Everyone seemed in good spirits despite almost having perished on the train the day before. When they got to Enjolras, she made sure to be very serious as he didn't seem in the joking mood like the others.

Combeferre cleared his throat as she approached his friend, "While some will bow their heads in response, others will kiss your hand if you offer it." She looked back at it and then back to the blonde man who was standing by the fireplace. She tried to walk as gracefully as possible, light and balanced. When she was in front of him she gave him a soft smile.

"Monsieur Enjolras," she said as she bowed, her eyes flicking up to meet his blue ones as he took her hand hand gently in his and brought his lips down to her skin. They held the gaze for a few moments before he brought his head back up.

"Mademoiselle Eponine," he said with a bow of his head. Combeferre looked between them and over to Grantaire who gave him a knowing look causing him friend to give him a nod in response.

"Your bath is ready, miss," The woman of the house announced coming down the stairs. Eponine gave Enjolras a small nod before turning to follow the woman up the stairs, grabbing her box of new clothes as she went.


	7. The Bath

Eponine quickly went to her room before taking her bath, she set the box of clothes down on her bed removing the robe and sleeping gown. She still couldn't believe that Marius had gotten her clothes. Even if it was with the help of his darling Cosette, he had still thought of her while they were out of touch. She at least meant something to him, even if it wasn't the way she always wanted. With a sigh she made her way to meet the innkeeper's wife outside a door.

"It should be nice and warm for you, dear," the woman said opening the door, "There are soaps and shampoos right by the side there."

"Thank you," Eponine gave her a grateful smile before stepping inside with the woman closing the door behind her. She walked over and sat on the edge of the tub as she removed her shoes then her thick knitted grey tights. She pulled off the baggy over worn dress and laid it on the floor before removing the rest of her garments and sinking into the warm water of the tub. A small sigh of contentment left her lips as she relaxed.

The rest of the group stayed down in the den of the inn, sharing drinks and laughs in good spirits. Even Enjolras enjoyed a cup of wine as he quietly enjoyed his friends' company. Unlike anyone else, he caught himself wondering what exactly happened on the train. That man was dead and even though he couldn't see any blood, he doubted that a man just died of nature causes while the train was speeding towards a collapsed bridge.

"Marius, Marius," Courfeyrac said getting his friend's attention and breaking Enjolras from his thoughts, "I have to ask. At the orphanage, did you and Eponine ever..."

"No," Marius said with a laugh. He was less surprised at the question due to the alcohol in his system, "No, no. We've always just been friends."

"She's quite the looker," Grantaire added, "I'm surprised nothing ever happened between the two of you."

"Please, that girl is my best friend," Marius said leaning forward against the table, "She's like a sister to me. Not to mention, relations of the sort were not allowed at the orphanage. It was one of the more stressed rules."

"Just wait until we get to Paris," Courfeyrac said, "The gents will be climbing over each other for her. Hey, Marius, do you think I have a chance."

Enjolras just rolled his eyes and cleared his throat getting his friends' attention, "Isn't she supposed to be a princess, mes amis? Might want to speak of her with a little more respect." Marius nodded his head in agreement. His friends became silent until Grantaire leaned back wrong and fell out of his chair. His friends bursting in laughter as he stood up clumsily with a smile. Enjolras stood from the table and made his way over to the stairs, wanting nothing more than to sleep so he would wake up in time to clean up before getting to the boat.

He made his way to his room, unbuttoning the top of his shirt as he walked. As he passed Eponine's room a light green piece of clothing caught his eyes. It was on the floor and slightly under her door, as though she dropped it on her way out of the room. He picked it up and looked it over realizing it was a night gown. He let out a sigh and cursed under his breath before turning on his heel to make his way to the room where she was bathing.

Eponine finished rinsing out her hair and stood from the tub, wrapping her body in a towel. She stepped out of the tub and took another towel to dry out her hair with one hand as the other reached for her night clothes. Only the robe was there.

"Damn," she said looking around not anticipating the knock on the door. She jumped a little bit, her foot landing in a small puddle causing her to slip towards the door. She put her arms out to brace herself but the door opened and instead she slid into someone with a squeak, causing them to slide into the opposite wall. A small grunt came from the man who was now holding on to her arms and she looked up to meet the blue eyes of Enjolras. Her hand was pressed against his chest while the other clutched the knot of the towel to ensure it didn't fall.

"I... uhm..," she licked her lips and looked back up at him, "I slipped." A small smirk pulled at the ends of his lips and a light chuckle escaped his throat.

"So much for grace," he joked as he brought his hand from her shoulder to brush some wet strands of hair from her face. She giggled softly at his words and gave a shy smile as he wiped her hair away. Part of her hand could feel the warm skin of his chest that peeked out from under his half buttoned shirt. His eyes looked over her face a bit before he realized her current state.

"Oh," he said looking up and away from her, "My apologies for intruding, I heard a thump and was worried you were hurt."

Eponine took a cue from him and stepped back almost hesitantly, "Why were you knocking?"

Enjolras held up the night gown while still looking away from her, "You dropped this outside your room. It was inappropriate for me to bring it to you, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said taking the clothing from his hand, "At least I didn't have to put back on my dirty dress after getting clean." She added a light chuckle hoping to help him feel more at ease with the situation. But he only gave a small smile before nodded and walking away down the hall. She watched him walk away and nibbled on her bottom lip. Part of her really didn't want him to just walk away and she didn't know why.

* * *

Eponine rose early, eager to start the day and get on the boat. She got dressed quickly and walked quietly through the house, bumping in the innkeeper's daughter.

"What are you doing awake so early?" she asked picking up the dishes she dropped. Eponine dropped down to help her.

"I'm an early riser I suppose," she answered with a chuckle and turn to see the girl's mother entering the room. She gave her a smile but kept about her business.

"M'am, I was wondering if there was anything I could do to pay you back for your hospitality," Eponine inquired and the woman turned around with a surprised expression.

"This is an inn, dear, you don't have to repay anything," she shook her head with a smile and walked back towards the kitchen with Eponine following closely.

"Please, I insist," the woman sighed and looked back at her with a questioning look, "At least help me prepare breakfast. I use to cook for the kids at the orphanage."

"You're an orphan?" the daughter asked with big eyes.

"Daughter, please," her mother snapped at her, "that is none of our business."

"It's alright," Eponine said, "Yes, I am, but the men in my company think that I have some family in Paris."

"Oh is that where you're headed?"

"Yes, it is," Eponine smiled at the girl and then looked back at her mother, "May I help with breakfast?" The woman rolled her eyes and nodded with a smirk.

"If you insist Miss," she gave her instructions on what to do and Eponine went to work. When they were almost done cooking the woman came over and looked her up and down.

"That is a beautiful dress, but it seems it's too big on you." she looked the dress over.

"Yes, well it was a gift from a friend and they weren't expecting my size," Eponine shrugged.

"I'm sure we have some belts that could help make it look better on your frame," the daughter offered, "And I could do your hair. Make that handsome man's mouth drop when he sees you."

"Handsome man," Eponine raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"The blonde one," she said as she kept working, "he glances at you a lot."

"Please stop being so bold," her mother scolded her but Eponine just laughed.

"If you'd like to help me get ready for the day I wouldn't argue," she offered suddenly a little nervous about the way she looked. The girl got excited and looked for permission from her mother who just rolled her eyes and nodded. The food was almost ready so she didn't need their help anyway and Eponine let the girl lead her upstairs and to her room. She was going to get made over by Cosette when she got to Paris anyway, why not try and get herself ready now and see how her new friends thought of it.

* * *

As morning came and all the boys awoke, some with hangovers, Enjolras announced that breakfast would be ready soon. He was already dressed and his blonde hair was still damp from his own bath that he had earlier. All the other men moved slowly except for Combeferre and Joly who didn't have as much to drink.

"We'll take a carriage to the docks that are just outside of the town," Enjolras told them as they made their way downstairs, "It'll be a few days before we reach Germany. We can continue Eponine's lessons then." Combeferre nodded as they walked and Joly let out a happy sigh as the smell of food filled the air.

"I'm starved," he said walking over to the large table.

"Well we've prepared a nice breakfast for you lads," the woman said with a smile.

"It smells heavenly, m'am," Combeferre said bowing his head with a smile.

"You can thank your friend for that," She responded as she continued placing the dishes around the table.

"Friend?" Marius asked as he joined them.

"Is there anymore of that wine left." Grantaire asked the woman with a smirk but she shook her head at him.

"It's far too early for you to be drinking, sir," a disappointed look crossed Grantaire's face as he sat down, "Miss Eponine helped us. She awoke earlier than any of you and insisted on helping us prepare breakfast."

"Old habits die hard," Marius commented taking his own seat.

"What do you mean?" Enjolras asked with a perked eyebrow.

"At the orphanage, she would help prepare meals when she got older," Marius said with a shrug.

"Even the time she was not allowed to eat?" his questioned was only answered with a nod.

"M'am, do you know where she is?" Combeferre asked the innkeeper's wife as she walked around.

"Oh, my daughter is helping her get ready for the day," she answered simply, "She'll be down soon."

The boys were silent besides occasional small conversations and questions as the table was finished being prepared. Enjolras looked up towards the steps as he heard light steps coming down it. Eponine emerged dressed in one of the dresses Marius gave her the night before. While still a bit big due to Marius not anticipating her small size, it still fit better than the ratty dress she had been wearing. It was a shade of blue that seemed to make her skin glow, and a belt kept it bound around her waste so it didn't look baggy. She was wearing a fresh pair of tights and it looked as though her shoes had been cleaned. Her hair was mostly down, with only a little bit tied up with a ribbon.

Enjolras took in her appearance with big eyes, as though he was seeing her for the first time. Combeferre, noticing his friend's expression, turned to take notice of the girl as well causing him to smile a bit. All the men began to follow suite, taking in their female friend's new appearance with a smile. As she walked into the room she looked around at them all.

"What?" she said looking down at her dress.

"Well, well," Grantaire said with a smirk as he stood and took her hand gently, "Don't you look beautiful." He kissed her hand and she gave him a soft smile.

Marius stood to slide her chair out for her and she couldn't help but giggle as she sat down next to her friend. Her eyes fell on Enjolras who looked as though he was still processing her presence. He was at a loss for words since she entered the room so he just gave her a small smile accompanied with a soft nod as though he was approving her appearance. She returned the smile with a proud look in her eyes. For some reason, his reaction was the one she was most nervous about.


	8. The Boat

Eponine let out a yawn as the carriage made it's way to the docks. Combeferre and Enjolras were trying to teach her the history of the royal line and her family. While some of it was interesting, it also seemed boring to learn about.

"I don't understand what the point of this is," she said causing both of them to slump back in their seats, "I have amnesia. Certainly that is a good enough reason not to remember these people."

"These people," Enjolras said holding up the book, "are your family and ancestors. Don't you want to know about them?"

"Of course I do," she said quietly while looking down at Gavroche and petting him softly, "Go on." Enjolras gestured for Combeferre to continue before leaning back in his seat comfortably. Every name Combeferre brought up he would look to her to see if she remembered anything, but Enjolras would answer for her. She was beginning to feel like maybe she couldn't remember because she wasn't Anastasia, but then Combeferre mentioned Count Sergei.

"He had a cat," Eponine said and the two men's heads rose from the book to look at her in a stunned silence, "A yellow cat." Her eyes flicked between the two of them and Combeferre whispered something in Enjolras's ear and he simply nodded in response.

"That's right, Eponine," he said studying her, "do you remember him?"

"No," she said hesitantly, "I just remember he had a cat." Enjolras looked to his friend who just shrugged.

"It's better than nothing," he said with a nod, "Though I'm not sure how you knew that. I had even forgotten about his cat."

"I just knew it," she said smiling proudly. Enjolras still looked at her as though he was studying her and when he eyes flicked to Combeferre she realized he was doing the same. Right before she was going to say something Combeferre looking behind her and then shut the book, she followed his gaze to find that they were at the docks.

The first day on the boat was an uncomfortable one. The sailors would constantly steal glances at Eponine like she was the first woman they've seen, which was exactly what Grantaire would tell her. Over the course of the next couple days she started to relax and the sailors went about their business practically ignoring her. Though she could've sworn it was something to do with Enjolras constantly glaring at them every time they would whistle or flirt.

It was their last night on the boat and Eponine was laying on her cot looking over the book Combeferre had about the royals, finding herself more and more fascinated by the people described in it. It had been a routine part of her days on the boat, more etiquette lessons then dinner then she would study the book while all the men had fun up on the deck.

"'Ponine," Marius said entering the cabin he shared with her, Grantaire, and Enjolras.

"Yes?" she replied not looking up from her book.

"Would you like to come join us?" he asked causing her to look up at him with a questioning look.

"What does Combeferre want to teach me now?" she tilted her head at her friend, "I'm pretty sure I have the whole grace and posture thing down."

Marius let out a sigh, "We want to teach you how to dance."

She let out a laugh and shook her head as she went to stand up. "You boys better know what you're doing," she giggled walking by him and into the corridor. He led her upstairs where the rest of the men were enjoying some drinks and a soft music was playing. The evening air was warm and welcoming to the bare skin of her legs and arms that showed. Combeferre came up and bowed his head to her.

"Mademoiselle Eponine," he said properly as she held out his hand.

"Monsieur Combeferre," she said with a bow before taking his head. He led to the middle of the floor and showed her where to place her hands as his took their places around her lower back and locking hands with her. She looked down to watch their footwork but he cleared his throat causing her attention to shift.

"You shouldn't look down, Eponine," he said, "Just let me lead you." She let out a sigh and tried it his way. She stepped on his feet a couple times but slowly started to get better and more precise in her movements. She couldn't help when her eyes flicked over Combeferre's shoulder and met Enjolra's gaze. Both them had some sort of longing in their look, something that was happening more and more since the incident with the towel. No, since comforted while he slept.

Enjolras wasn't sure how he felt about it, if he liked the way she looked at him or liked the way that look made him feel. Love was a naive motion, and he had more important things to focus on. Still, as her big brown eyes caught his in a gaze he didn't want to look away. Their ongoing gaze wasn't a secret though, it was on display for anyone to notice. And Grantaire did. Being a drunk didn't stop him being observant. He simply smiled and shook his head. Oh the stubbornness of denial.

Eponine took turns dancing with everyone. They all seemed to be able to dance well enough, with an exception of Grantaire who was too tipsy to keep his movements precise. Marius was a splendid dancer and the two made jokes and laughed, but deep down she was confused. His touch didn't make her heart rush like it use to and his smile didn't have as much of an effect on her as it did.

Grantaire made the bold motion to push Enjolras forward who looked back at him with a glare, knowing exactly why his friend was so eager to have him dance with Eponine. Marius gave Eponine a twirl before letting her go so Enjolras could take over. As he caught her, Eponine was more than surprised to look up and see those blue eyes. She didn't even realize that Marius was done dancing with her. She only a felt a little sad to no longer be dancing with him and that feeling disappeared as she felt Enjolr'as arm wrap around her lower back and his hand slide down her arm to link his hand with her's.

She let out a slow breath that she wasn't aware she was holding as he started to lead her, while he still held his. Their eyes never broke away from each other as they danced. The silence was almost unbearable, but for unknown reasons. Was it because there was something heavy in the air between? Some sort of tension they both had been ignoring?

"You never told me what you thought of my makeover," Eponine said quietly dying to break the silence between them, even if part of her told her that was the wrong question to ask.

"You look beautiful," he answered in a half whisper, his eyes never leaving hers. The sincerity to his answer was something she hadn't ever heard before and caused her heart to rush. No, Marius is suppose to make her heart rush. Not Enjolras.

"Thank you," she whispered back with a soft smile before they continued to dance in silence. Combeferre watched on with a studying look as he leaned against some railing, Grantaire next to him seeing the exact same thing.

"The marble is cracking," he said in a hushed tone but Combeferre shook his head in a disagreement.

"It's been cracked," he said as he watched the dancing couple who's eyes were still locked on each other. No one else was paying attention to them. Courfeyrac and Joly were playing with the dog, while Marius was deep in thought about how he would propose to Cosette once he lived in Paris permanently.

Eponine and Enjolras slowly came to a stop, but Eponine felt like she was still spinning a little bit. The way he looked at her was like he was seeing straight into her. The she looked at him, well, it honestly scared him. He didn't let anyone effect him the way this girl had been. Then hand on her back slid down to hold hers and they looked at each other.

"Eponine...," he started completely unsure of what he wanted to say.

"Yes?" she searched his face with her eyes, they were both moving closer to each other like they didn't have any control over their movements.

"I...," he whispered as their faces drew closer. Her eyes fluttered shut, a nervous knot in her stomach as she waited for the kiss. He looked over her face but shook his hand and pulled away from her, dropping her hands as he stepped away.

"You're doing great," he said before walking away and down into the hull of the ship where their rooms were. Eponine opened her eyes and her brows furrowed in completely confusion. Combeferre, who was watching them with his hand to his mouth, dropped his hand slightly and shook his head before meeting eyes with his friend who averted his gaze and continued down the stairs. Grantaire let out a disappointed sigh and brought his cup to lips for another gulp of wine.

* * *

Enjolras paced the length of the cabin, not wanted to go back to his where she would be. Combeferre leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I don't believe I've ever seen you so flustered, mon ami," he said with a smirk and Enjolras gave him a warning glare.

"Why is it so terrible for you to like her?" Combeferre asked standing straight up, "Eponine is quite a lovely young woman."

"Yes, she's very lovely," Enjolras agreed. He could almost laugh at how ironic it was that he had developed feelings for a girl who frustrated him more than a couple times just a few days ago, "but she's also a young woman we're presented to the Dowager Empress as the lost Romanov princess."

"And?" Combeferre asked before it dawned on him what his friend's point was, "Enjolras, things aren't like that anymore."

"It wouldn't be appropriate who a royal to be with a con man who use to help cook their meals," he said sternly.

"I thought she wasn't really royal," Combeferre mused but Enjolras just let out a sigh.

"She will be to the world and to her family," Enjolras said before turning to face his friend, "It's simply an infatuation, one that will fade quickly once we are not around each other so much."

Combeferre gave him an unconvinced look and shook his head.

"Convince yourself all you want, Enjolras," he said before walking over to lay back on his cot, "Those looks between the two of you are ones born of more than just infatuation."

"This is a pointless conversation," Enjolras said walking from the cabin, "And not a topic worth speaking of again."

Eponine sat on her cot after getting read for bed. She let out a sigh as she thought about what had happend a couple hours ago. Enjolras hadn't so much as looked at her since the almost kiss. Was that what it was? Or was she just deluded herself yet again like she had with Marius. The dog that was under her cot ran out chasing something, probably a bit of dust. Eponine just giggled at the sight until he knocked over some of Enjolras's stuff.

"Gavroche!," she exclaimed standing up and rushing over to try and pick up the stuff. Enjolras was the biggest fan of the dog and probably wouldn't be happy that it made his stuff a mess. As she cleaned her eyes fell on small, shiny, oval shaped box. She tilted her head down at it before picking it up and looking it over. She felt like she could hear a faint voice singing to her, like this box had something to do with her past.

"Once upon a december..." she sang quietly.

"What was that?" Grantaire's voice startled her and she jumped up placing the box back in Enjolras's satchel.

"Nothing, nothing," she said brushing some hair behind her ear. He perked an eyebrow at her and she realized she was still standing by Enjolras's stuff. She just cleared her throat and walked back over to her cot, laying down and pulling the blanket up around her neck. She didn't say another word and just let herself drift off into sleep. Not sure what anyone else in their cabin was doing, she just wanted to wake up and finish the journey.

After a few hours, everyone was asleep. Enjolras rolled over onto his side scrunching his face at the barking that was filling the room.

"Gavroche!," he yelled but the barking didn't stop. He let out a sigh and opened his eyes, jumping up when he realized the dog was barking at the door of the room which was open. His eyes darted around the cabin and fell upon Eponine's empty bed. He jumped up and ran to look out the cabin door. He saw her down towards the end up, about to walk up the stairs to the deck.

"Eponine!," he yelled but there was no response. Was she sleep walking? He could see the rain splattering the inside of the corridor and the thunder rumbled the boat. With a sigh he ran down the hallway to follow her and stop her from hurting herself.


	9. The Nightmare

The air was warm and fresh as Eponine sat with her family by the lake. They were all laughing and having a good time. Here she was Anastasia, the Romanov princess. She was where she belonged. Laughter erupted from everyone as her baby brother jumped sloppily into the lake. That was when he father stood up and started to walk away and when the girl around her pulled Eponine from her spot to follow the man. They were dancing as they followed him, laughing and twirling around in joy. Her smile was big and happy.

Thunder cracked as Enjolras came up to the deck of the ship. At some moments he could hardly tell where the rain stopped and the sea began. He looked around frantic to spot the redhead who was sleep walking around in a storm. His eyes caught onto her and he tried to quickly make his way over to her. He could hear her laughing and watching her twirl around, slipping a little bit but that barely phased her. She was walking up to the quarterdeck, but a wave crashed against the ship and pushed Enjolras to the floor before he could reach the stairs.

Eponine walked with her friends gracefully to where her father wandered. She had never been happy, she was reunited with her family. She watched as her father jumped off a small cliff that was over the lake. She giggled as the other girls ran ahead of her to do the same, following quickly after them. She came to the edge of the cliff and looked down at her family and friends all happily waiting for her to jump in, but then it all changed.

Enjolras made his way up the stairs and saw her standing at the very edge of the ship looking down. He cursed under his breath, "Eponine!" His yells were pointless, not even someone who was awake would be able to hear him in this storm. He clumsily made his way over to where she was, slipping and falling over and over again. He noticed that her laughter had stopped. She was now screaming.

Eponine tried to pull away as the demons clutched at her clothes and tried to pull her down with them. Her family had transformed into monsters. She kept screaming at them to let her go and to stop, but they wouldn't. She was starting to slip now. She kept fighting, kept screaming, just trying everything she could to get away. Then she felt herself get pulled backwards. She was now soaked and she was certain that they had succeeded in pulling her down. She fought against them, throwing her fists as hard as she could.

"Eponine! Wake up!," the familiar voice caused her eyes to snap open. It took several moments for her to register where she was, it was raining and someone was trying to pull her from the edge of the ship. She was still having a nightmare, she knew it. She kept fighting against the man.

"Eponine!," Enjolras yelling catching her wrists, "Stop! It's me, you're awake now." She looked up at him, his blue eyes, his worried expression. She was awake now, but how did she get on the deck of the ship. Her legs gave out from under and slumped to the floor. Enjolras squatted down with her, holding her close to him as she started to cry. The rain was still coming down hard and the boat was rocking back and forth. After a few moments, Enjolras picked Eponine up and started to carefully back to where the cabins were.

As he came down the stairs, he noticed Combeferre and Joly standing there in the hallway. They both turned to look at the pair of them with shocked expressions.

"What happened?" Combeferre asked as he ran into his room to grab towels.

"She was sleep walking," Enjolras answered. Eponine's face was still nuzzled against his chest, she was awake but she shaking something awful. Not just from the rain, she was shaken over than dream.

"Is she okay?" Joly asked stepping forth, a worried look on his face.

Enjolras looked down at her then back to his friend, "She's shaken up. I don't know if she hurt anything while she was out there, but you can check tomorrow when she's calmed down a bit."

Joly nodded his head but continued to wear a look at sympathy as he looked down at her shaking form. Combeferre came out with towels and followed Enjolras into their cabin. He set the towels on Eponine's cot so Enjolras could sit her down on it and then proceeded to drape them over her shoulders, and started to dry her hair. Enjolras opened up one of his bags to pull out dry clothes.

"Here," he handed Enjolras a shirt, "get her into something dry."

Enjolras started to change into dry clothes himself. As he pulled his shirt on, he looked over and noticed that Eponine was still clutching the towels to her, not moving or allowing Combeferre to change her. He didn't buttoning up his shirt, he just walked over and put a hand on Combeferre's shoulder. His friend willingly moved from the girl and Enjolras kneeled down in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Eponine," he whispered softly, "we need to get you into dry clothes." He looked back at Combeferre who just nodded and left the cabin, closing the door quietly behind him. He looked back over to the girl in front of him and gently brought his fingers to her chin to move her head into looking at him. Her eyes met his and the look in them almost broke him.

"We don't want you getting sick," he kept his soft tone. She nodded her head slowly. She was able to keep the towel pressed to her as he removed her night gown from over her head. He made sure not to focus on any newly exposed skin as he picked up his shirt from the floor and started to pull it down over her head and helped her arms go through the proper holes. She shivered a bit as he took the towels from her and he pulled the blanket up and wrapped it over her.

"I think you should lay down and just try to get some rest," he whispered as he carefully maneuvered her into a lay position. He went to stand up but her hand clung to his shirt sleeve and he looked down to see a pleading look in her eyes.

"Can you... just stay here?" she asked in the softest tone she could manage, her voice still shaky and her expression still scared. Enjolras looked her over and nodded as he took a place on the cot next to her, his arm wrapping around her to comfort her. She laid her head against his chest and her hand laid over his heart. It took a little while but eventually the girl stopped shivering and was peacefully asleep in his arms. He brushed some hair from her face and brought his lips to her forehead, surprisingly happy that his presence helped her find some sort of peace. He didn't want to move and wake her up so remained there, holding her as she slept, until he too started to drift off into a deep sleep.

* * *

A soft groan left Enjolras's lips as he woke up. He rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly, looking around at the cabin. No one else was sleeping, which was strange since Enjolras always woke up first. He blinked a couple times trying to get his bearings, and slowly the events of the previous night came back to him. He slung his legs over the side of the cot, ready to get up and look for Eponine to make sure she was okay. He rubbed his eyes again then heard a throat clearing in the door way. He looked up to see the girl in question standing there holding a plate.

"Good morning sunshine," she came and sat down in front of him, "I brought you some lunch."

"Lunch?" he said looking at her confused."

"Yes, you've slept all morning," she placed the plate next to him on the bed, "We'll be in Germany soon."

Her tone was normal, which surprised Enjolras. After last night, he expected her to still be a little scared.

"How are you?" he said looking over her.

"Better," she nodded her head and looked down at her hands, "Thank you... for everything"

She placed a hand over his and looked up at him with a small smile. She carefully leaned forward to kiss him gingerly on the cheek. He didn't stop her, in fact he stopped her from leaning back. His hand came up to cup her face, causing them to be barely and inch away. He gently brought his lips to hers, which instantly responded. Her hand pressed against the bare skin of his chest as the kiss deepened.

It felt overdue, like it should've happened so long ago. They could both tell how much the other wanted this to happen and how much the all the restraint they had shown had made it harder for them to pull away now. The way he kissed her and touched her made Eponine's heart melt in a way Marius never had. Her soft lips pressed against his own just felt right to Enjolras, it felt nature.

"Enjolras!," a slurred voice came down the hallway causing them to pull away from each other, "Wakey wakey, we're approaching the docks." Grantaire entered the room and looked at the two people. His eyebrow perks as he took in their flushed face and close proximity to each other. A smirk spread on his lips as he looked at them. Enjolras looked annoyed and Eponine simply looked down at the ground.

"Did I interrupt something?" he said, his eyes full of amusement as Enjolras's gaze joined Eponine's on the floor.


	10. The Arrival

"Wonderful," Grantaire said leaning against the wall, "Another train. Let's hope this one doesn't get into another accident."

The group was standing around, waiting to board the train that would take them from Berlin to Paris. Neither Eponine or Enolras had admitted to their drunkard of a friend what exactly he interrupted, even though his constant smirk towards either of them suggested he knew very well what was happening. Marius was curious as to why he woke up to the two of them sleeping in Eponine's cot together, but that was an easy story to tell. Once they got to the station, Joly pulled Eponine aside to check over her and make sure she didn't hurt herself too much the previous night.

"I still don't understand what happened on that train," Courfeyrac said with a furrowed brow.

"Enjolras, you said the man in the locomotive was dead, right?" Combeferre asked his friend but Enjolras seemed a little distant as he looked on at the railroad tracks.

"Enjolras?" he repeated and his friend seemed to snap out of his trance and look over at him.

"Yes," Enjolras answered simply with a shrug, "but there was no blood that I could see."

"I don't understand," Marius said with a shake of his head, "Do you guys think someone killed him so he wouldn't stop the train then blew up the track?"

"It's either that or that man just happened to have a heart attack right before the track blew up," Courfeyrac answered, "That would be some coincidence."

Things fell silent between the men as that fact dawned on them. They couldn't even begin to think who would want to kill a train full of people. At that moment Joly and Eponine returned to the group. Eponine gave Enjolras a warm smile, but he only responded with a small smirk before looking back at the tracks. Her smile fell as she went to sit next to Courfeyrac.

"Is our little princess okay?" Grantaire inquired with a small smile.

"Just a few scratches it would seem," Joly said sitting down next to Eponine, "nothing to worry about."

Eponine nibbled on her bottom lip as she looked at Enjolras. She didn't know if he regretted the kiss or if he just wasn't one to show affection in public. As the train came rolling up, he finally glanced back at her. When their eyes met, his blue ones filled with some kind of sadness before he turned away to walk onto the train. Eponine let out a sigh and stood up, her expression still conveying confusion and some disappointment.

Eponine looked out the window, not really focussing on anything in particular. This time she was sharing the corridor with Joly, Marius, and Grantaire. Enjolras was quick to sit with Combeferre and Courfeyrac. Eponine rolled her eyes as she thought about how he was acting.

"You alright 'Ponine?" Marius said pulling her attention back to the people that sat with her.

"I'm fine," she replied simply, her gaze catching Grantaire's knowing one. He could see the confusion written all over her face, just like he saw the distant look Enjolras's eyes. The poor girl just didn't understand what his friend was like, and his stubborn friend couldn't just give in.

* * *

Hours later they arrived in Paris, and wasted no time in making their way to Cosette's house. The ride there was a silent one, except for Marius's enthusiastic attempts to tell Eponine about his beloved. The last thing she wanted, however, was to hear about how the man she use to love was in love with someone else after being kiss and ignored by another man.

Enjolras tried his best to stop from looking at her, but he couldn't help it. Every time their eyes met, he was quick to look away. He wasn't meaning to avoid her or ignore her, but he wasn't ignorant to the reality of the situation. What they shared was just a fleeting infatuation, nothing real. Enjolras didn't believe in love and therefore he couldn't love.

When they arrived at the house, a blonde came running from the building and right into Marius's arms. It wasn't a mystery who this girl was. Eponine rolled her eyes slightly as she walked towards the house, the tension around her thickening when Enjolras fell into step next to her.

"So this is the infamous Cosette," Eponine said trying to break the silence.

"Well if it were the maid I'd be concerned with how Marius is with women," Enjolras said lightly and Eponine let out a scoff.

"You're one to talk," her voice was bitter, "Or is ignoring the girls you kiss a habit of yours?"

"Eponine..." Enjolras didn't know what to say, "it isn't like that."

"Then what's it like," she said stopping them and he turned to face her, still avoiding eye contact.

"I'm not good at things like this," he said with a shrug, "I usually don't concern myself with... these types of things." He gestured between the two of them.

She was finally able to catch his gaze. He was just as confused as her about what happened and what it meant. If she saw anything else in his eyes, it would've been something like fear. She softly and carefully took his hand in hers while giving him a reassuring smile. He parted his lips like he was about to say something but Courfeyrac seemed to come out of no where and pat him on the shoulder.

"Come on you two, we need to get this done before the two lovebirds get carried away," Courfeyrac said not even noticing the moment he was disturbing. Enjolras and Eponine looked over to Marius and Cosette who looked like nothing could pry them apart.

"They're really in love," Eponine said quietly and Enjolras just looked back at her with a smirk before intertwining his fingers with hers and starting to lead her to the house. A small smile crept on her lips at the feel of his hand interlocked with hers.

Once they were all in the house, everyone seemed to take a comfortable seat in the den. Eponine stayed standing but Enjolras sat in a chair next to her.

"Cossete this is the girl I was telling you about," Marius said and the blonde turned to give a warm smile to her, "This is Eponine."

"Bonjour Mademoiselle," the blonde said setting down a tray of tea for everyone to have before turning to Marius, "Darling I'm afraid that Marie won't be seeing anymore girls."

Everyone sat up and looked around then looked Marius. Enjolras let out a sigh and cradled his head in his hand. Eponine stood there looking at Marius with big eyes, waiting for him to say something.

"Cosette, you knew about her," Marius pleaded, "at least just give her a chance."

"With all due respect Mademoiselle, Eponine is suffering from amnesia," Combeferre spoke up, "she doesn't remember anything about her life before she was eight. Which, I might add, was the age Anastasia went missing ten years ago and it just so happens Eponine is eighteen."

"I understand that Monsieur," Cosette started while she sat down on her couch, "but I'm afraid she isn't the first girl that has come to us claming to suffer from amnesia."

She looked over at Eponine, "Not to say you don't actually have amnesia, Eponine." Eponine just nodded in response. She had come all this way and now it might not even matter.

"Do you remember anything at all?" Cosette asked her while tilting her head.

"She remember's Count Sergei's cat!" Marius offered excitedly but his beloved just looked at him with a cynical look before turning her attention back to Eponine. She furrowed her brow and tried to think.

"I think...," she nodded softly and looked up at the blonde woman, "I think I remember something."

Enjolras just let out another sigh, not bothering to look up. This would only end badly.

"How I escaped the palace," she looked down at her hands as she thought hard about it. Enjolras's eyes shot up and met Combeferre's who shook his head to let him know he didn't tell her about it and then looked up at the redhead.

"I was leaving with my family, but I forgot something... I don't remember what it was, but it was important," she let out a deep breath as she spoke, "I was in a room with my grandmother and soldiers were approaching. That when this boy... a servant, I believe... came out of no where and opened up a wall."

Enjolras's mouth dropped as he turned to look up at Eponine, his eyes were wide and he couldn't believe what he had just heard. She was her, she was Anastasia. This woman that he had slowly been falling for over the past week was the lost Romanov princess, the one he saved.

"I'm sorry, that sounds crazy," she chuckled softly trying to wave away her story, "Walls opening."

Combeferre glanced over at his friend and it was like all the color left Enjolras's face. He couldn't tell what his expression was, but he certainly looked surprised and even slightly disappointed. Enjolras stood up to excuse himself, Eponine caught his hand with her own and he just looked down at the contact.

"Where are you going," Enjolras didn't look up at her he just mumbled something about needed air and he started to walk away. She dropped his hand and watching him walk from the room. She looked over at Combeferre was just staring at her dumbfounded. Cosette was looking at her with narrow eyes, like she was trying to figure her out.

"Well?" Marius said his gaze flicking between his best friend and his girlfriend.

Cosette cleared her throat and nodded her head softly, "As I've said, Marie isn't seeing anymore girls."

"Cos-." she put her hand up to stop Marius was pleading anymore.

"But as it just so happens the Russian ballet is coming to down and the Empress never misses it. Papa and I will be joining her. I would be happy to introduce all of my new friends to her, including Eponine."

Marius smiled and looked over at Eponine who smiled back but was still concerned about Enjolras.

"Of course, we'll have to take Eponine shopping for the event," Cosette said picking up the tray, "and I'm sure you boys could use a night of amusement out on the streets of Paris."

Everyone looked excited and happy. Everyone besides Combeferre who looked at the window at his friend who was leaning against a fence with his head in his hands.

* * *

"We did it!," Grantaire said proudly walking from the house and over to Enjolras.

"I think Cosette bought that story," he continued on not noticing his friend's somber expression as he turned to face him, "Do you think the Empress will?"

"Of course she will," Enjolras said looking down at the grass, "Because Eponine is the princess."

"She was brilliant in there, was that something you and Combeferre told her to say?" Grantaire asked before giving his friend a double take, "Wait? What?"

"She's Anastasia," Combeferre said walking down the yard to join them, "She's the last Romanov."

Grantaire looked taken back but after a moment he let out a chuckle and gave them a smirk, "Funny."

"It's true," Enjolras said finally dragging his gaze up to look at his friends, "Neither of us told her that story."

"Then how do you know that was true?" Grantaire asked looking between them.

"Because I was that boy," Enjolras said only making eye contact with Combeferre and then looked at Grantaire, "I was the servant who opened up the wall."

Grantaire's eyes widened and he looked between the two of them. He shook his head a little bit, but then just shrugged.

"I didn't know," he said quietly.

"No one did," Combeferre said, "that's why he had to hide after the siege, they were looking for the boy that helped Anastasia and her grandmother escaped."

Enjolras's eye drifted back to the ground as he let out a sigh. Grantaire who seemed a lost for words shrugged slightly and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, but why do you look so unhappy about this" he inquired, "Isn't this a good thing?"

"We're going to go shopping!," Eponine exclaimed walking out onto the porch, "Shopping in Paris, can you believe?"

Enjolras watched the girls excitement, but couldn't return it. She was truly the princess and once she was reunited with the Empress, she'd be gone. He lost his chance with her before it really began.

**A/N So while I was typing this, I got uber distracted watching clips of Aaron Tveit in Hairspray. I don't think anyone can judge me for that though. I hope you enjoy. Yes, they kissed, but the story is not over.**


	11. The Ballet

Eponine had to admit, she didn't mind being around Cosette. Even when Marius and her were showing off their affections for each other. It didin't give her a knot in her stomach like she thought it would. It probably had something to do with her growing feelings for another man. For Enjolras. She was enjoying her night out on the town. After they went shopping they visited the Moulin Rouge, which all the men in their company were deeply excited for. The only thing that could've possibly brought her down was that whenever she would steal glances at Enjolras he seemed even more distant than he did after they kissed. It was as if he was constantly distracted. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, why he became stoic so suddenly, but figured it was a conversation that would have to wait until they were in private.

Marius and Cosette were dancing happily with one another, their eyes so full of love it would probably make most people sick. Eponine just watched all her friends dance and have fun, giggling at Marius tripping a little bit. Enjolras sat next to her, but she didn't notice any of his glances over to her. He didn't want her to. He didn't want her to think she was doing anything wrong, but how could he possibly explain what was troubling him without her finding out that this whole time he thought he was conning her.

Grantaire stumbled over to the table and offered his hand out to Eponine. She looked at it than back up at him with a questioning look.

"Mademoiselle Eponine," he bowed his head making her giggle, "Would my little princess do me the honor of a dance?"

She giggled again as she slid her hand into his and he pulled her from her seat to lead her to the dance floor. Enjolras sat there and watched, the sheet joy that was radiating from her. The laughs and smiles, they were almost contagious. He shook his head slowly and looked down at his glass of champagne.

"Princess," he let out a sigh peeking up at Eponine, "I've found you at last."

He downed the small glass of liquid right before Eponine ran over to him and took hold of his hand in order to pull him to the dance floor.

"Oh no," he shook his head with a smirk, "I don't think so."

"Mon cher," she said smiling at her use of the french language, "You've been wearing the saddest look all night. We're finally here, Enjolras, come enjoy Paris with me." Her eyes were pleading with him. She wore a smile but her face conveyed determination. She wanted him to smile and enjoy himself. Enjolras let out a sigh and shook his head before standing up and taking both her hands in his. Her smile widened as she pulled him to join all their friends.

After a few hours of fun, drinks, and dancing the group headed back to Cosette's house. Everyone was in good spirits, even Enjolras who had lightened up after couple more drinks and dances with both Eponine and Cosette.

"Alright, boys," Cosette said getting everyone's attention and then giggled when her eyes fell on Eponine, "and girl. Papa and I only have three guestrooms so everyone will have to pair up."

"Obviously, Enjolras gets the privilege of bunking with the princess," Grantaire mused as he sat down in a chair. Eponine felt herself blush at his words while Enjolras rolled his eyes and sat back on the couch.

"You drink to much, mon ami," Enjolras mumbled and Grantaire laughed.

"Did Courfeyrac not come back with us," Joly asked as he sat next to Enjolras.

"I think he's still with those two cancan dancers," Grantaire answered with a grin. Eponine maneuvered around the room and sat on the arm of the couch, a little surprised when she felt Enjolras's hand on the small of her back. Turns out a tipsy Enjolras was a less stoic one. She smiled softly and the feeling, trying not to just slide down and into his lap as his fingers softly traced circles through the fabric of her dress. Marius and Cosette were already upstairs, just leaving the small group to debate rooms.

"So who's rooming with who?" Combeferre said. He was visibly tired and just wanted to get this sorted. It was strange for him, taking charge while Enjolras was the one laughing with their friends. Too strange for him to really put into words.

"As I said let our marble leader room with his lady and I suggest the three of us room together, just in case Courfeyrac comes home with those dancers," Grantaire chuckled.

"I doubt Courfeyrac would dishonor Cosette and her father's hospitality like that, Combeferre said, "he probably won't even return tonight."

"Alright," Eponine said with a yawn as she slid from the arm of the couch, "You boys figure it out. I'm going to go to bed." She already missed the warmth of Enjolras's hand on her back. Grantaire gently picked up her hand and kissed the back of it.

"Good night princess," he gave her a smirk and she giggled.

"Messiuers bonsoir," she said with a giggled as she bounced upstairs. She found one of the guest rooms and immediately shed her clothes and pulled her night gown on. She was so tired after all the traveling and then dancing, she just wanted to sleep for an entire day. Thought tomorrow was the ballet and she'd be meeting her grandmother. A small nervous knot formed in her stomach as she laid down in the bed. Tomorrow her entire life could change, but what would that mean for certain things? Despite her busy mind, she quickly drifted off into a sleep.

* * *

The next day was a busy one and quick one. Everyone was in a rush to bathe and make themselves presentable for the ballet. Cosette introduced everyone to her father, Monsieur Fauchelevent, who seemed very interested in everyone's stories. Everyone left out the part where they brought Eponine here to present as Anastasia, and Enjolras didn't share much of his own story. Eponine noticed how he avoided any questions about his childhood.

By night time they were all on their way to the ballet. Cosette put Eponine's hair up into an elegant bun and did her make up modestly. She was nervous, more than nervous. The whole day she had a knot in her stomach and she constantly found herself shaking her leg. Everyone helped her to calm down and to be more excited than nervous, but it didn't really work. It didn't help that Enjolras was back to being distant.

He was sitting across from her now, looking out his window. His mind seemed somewhere else and his eyes carried a hint of saddness. She still wanted to ask him what was wrong, but it never seemed like the right time for it. The car came to a stop and Eponine's big eyes landed on the building. This was it. Enjolras let out a heavy sigh as he came back to reality and focussed on the building, he finally glanced over at Eponine who was staring out the window nervously.

He patted her knee supportively causing her attention to snap over to him. She looked surprised to see him paying attention to her, and the thought stabbed at him a little bit. He gave her a soft smile before the door was opened by the chauffeur. He got out of the car first and then turned back to offer his hand to Eponine.

"Merci Monsieur Enjolras," she said with a smirk as she took his hand and stepped out of the car. He only responded with another soft smile before leading her towards the building.

Once they were inside, Enjolras let go of her hand to go and talk to Combeferre about something. Eponine looked around at the beautiful building with awe written on her face. She jumped a little bit when a woman stepped forward to take her coat. With a small, nervous giggle she let her coat fall from her arms and into the woman's hands.

"We just have to make sure she knows that this is in fact her granddaughter," Enjolras said as he ended the conversation with his friend. He turned to walk up the stairs but stopped in his tracks as one of the workers removed Eponine's coat. She was wearing a strapless, dark blue dress. She just looked so beautiful and radiant, it caused his heart to skip a beat. She turned back to him with a smile before tilting her head questioningly at him. His eyes were full of admiration of the woman standing at the top of those stairs.

As everyone took their seats, Eponine used the small glasses to glance over at the box where Cosette, her father, and the Empress were seated. Her breath hitched as she saw the woman. She sat so gracefully in her seat. Everything about her was filled with grace and beauty. Her attention was pulled away when Enjolras took his seat next to her.

"During intermission we'll go over to their booth," he whispered. She only nodded and tried to focus down on the show that was starting. Halfway through the first act, the anticipation and anxiety was getting to her. She was twisting the program so much it started to fall apart in her hands. Enjolras looked down and let out a soft sigh before he hesitantly slid his hand into her lap and grabbed hold of hers.

Eponine stopped moving and just looked over at him, he gave her a reassuring smile, "It'll be okay." His whispered words somehow convinced her that the night would end fine. It would be okay.

The lightly slowly flickered back to life and the crowd started to get up and stretch their legs for the intermission. Eponine sat there, paralyzed by the fear that she would be rejected by this woman. Her hand lifted from her lap and she looked up and Enjolras who was giving her a supportive smirk.

Once she stood he started to lead her through the building and to the box where the empress was sitting. Enjolras was scared himself, this would change everything and when the dust settled she would be gone and he would be angry at himself for ever feeling anything for her. It was stupid of him to kiss her on the boat and stupid of him to let her get to him. He knew was the start that once he reunited her with the Empress she would be gone. It only became so much more real when it turned out she was in fact the princess.

The came to the door and he stopped in his tracks and dropped her hand. Eponine stood next to him, her eyes flicking back and forth between the curtain and his stoic face. He licked his lips and looked at her, "Wait here, I'll announce you." She only nodded in response. It was happening now and there was no going back. Enjolras made his way into the the booth, closing the door behind him or so he thought.

Eponine stood in front of the door leaning in so she could hear the conversation from the crack in the door.

Enjolras sat down carefully next to the Empress, but it took a couple moments for her to register his presences.

"Who are you?" she asked sternly leaning away from him.

"My name is Enjolras and I have someone in my company you need to meet," he cleared his throat, "We're friends with Cosette."

"Enjolras," she tiled her head, "I've heard that name before."

"Madame, I know you've given up your search," her eyes narrowed at his words, "but I've found Anastasia."

Marie let out a scoff, "How cruel are you?"

"It's true, she knows-," she raised her hand so he would be quiet.

"I've heard of you, Monsieur Enjolras," she said signaling for security to come over, "I've hear word your despicable auditions for girls you can teach to impersonate my grand daughter. Do not insult me with your arrogance."

The security guards grabbed him from his seat but he pulled his arms away from them, "But this girl is your grand daughter. She is Anastasia."

Marie waved him away and the guards started to pull away and to the door, "Just talk to her. Talk to her and you'll see." Enjolras tried fighting against the men but they threw him out the door and shut it promptly afterwards. He stumbled a bit trying to steady himself before he noticed the bottom of a blue dress on the red carpet. He stood straight to meet Eponine's wide eyes. They looked like they were filled with tears and his heart dropped as soon as he realized that she heard everything.

She looked at him and it was like she didn't know him at all, "Auditions?" It was the only word she could get out. At that moment the entire group that was chatting a few feet away became quiet. They all looked over at the pair. Eponine looked at them and could see the guilt written on all their faces before shaking her head and turning to walk away. She stopped when someone reached out to grab her arm. That's when she snapped.

"Eponine please just listen for a minute," Enjolras pleaded but she yanked her arm from his grasp and turn back to look at him with eyes full of anger and saddness.

"I will never listen to a single word you say again!" she nearly yelled, "And to think I actually started to..." She trailed off as she shook her head. Marius hurt her, but Enjolras just broke her heart. She tried to turn away, but Enjolras grabbed her again. He could just let her walk away.

"It was real," his hands slid down to hold hers and she looked down at the contact, "All of it, Eponine. _This_ was real."

He gently gave her hands a squeeze and that made her snap. She didn't care how pleading his eyes were, how guilty he felt. She pulled her hand from his and before she knew it, she slapped him across the face so hard it made his head turn to the side. Cosette gasped from the side and brought her hand to her mouth. Marius stepped forward, but as soon Eponine made eye contact with him he stepped back. She walked away again, but Enjolras didn't give up. He grabbed her arm again, begging for her to hear him out but she just pushed him away from her and made her way down the stairs and out of the building. She walked down the street a little bit before holding out her arm to brace herself against a wall and letting the tears fall.

**A/N So I wasn't sure if you guys remembered that this happened, but oh well. It hurt to write. Just so everyone knows, Rasputin will be making an appearance soon under a certain alias. Since we all know he's the one behind everyone, I decided to focus more on the group and wait to really bring him in. Because we he does shit will get real. Yes, yes, I was distracted by Aaron again. Can't help it. I've now seen all his theater performances.**


	12. The Truth

Eponine stormed into her guest room at Monsieur Fauchelevent's house. She didn't care where she was going to go she just wanted to leave. With a grunt she pulled her one suitcase on her bed and started throwing all her new clothes in it. It was all a lie. Everything was a lie. This was suppose to be where she found her family and found a place to belong. This was where she had fallen in love. No, that was an even bigger lie. She threw in a pair of shoes and then heard a knock at the door.

"'Ponine?" she closed her eyes tight at the sound of Marius's voice but she didn't answer and just hoped he would go away.

"I know you're in there," he said and Eponine rolled her eyes and walked over to open the door. She gave him the hardest look she could muster.

"What do you want, Monsieur," Eponine said with venom in her words.

"I came to see if you were okay," he said quietly but she only scoffed in response and went to close the door, but he held his arm out to stop the door.

"Go away Marius," Eponine yelled in frustration.

"Where are you going," Marius said walking into the room and ignoring her demand.

"Somewhere other than her," she said crossing her arms, "Can you please get out now and leave me alone?"

"You're going to go walk around with all your possessions in the middle of the night?" Marius turned around to face her. Eponine shifted her weight a little bit and looked up at him.

"Don't," he looked like he was pleading with her, "Wait till morning and then... I will pay your way to wherever you want to go. Just do not go anywhere tonight, you could get hurt."

Eponine rolled her eyes, "Get out Marius." He looked like he was going to say something but she just raised her hand to stop him, "I don't wish to speak to you for the remainder of my stay here. I will figure something out tomorrow but I don't want your money or your pity, Monsieur."

Marius simply nodded and walked to the door. Eponine let out a sigh and turned sharply.

"One more thing," Marius hastily turned back like he was expecting her to forgive him, "Make sure none of your... friends... disturb me. I don't wish to speak to any of them."

Especially Enjolras, she wanted to say but held back. Marius's face dropped as she promptly closed the door. She turned around and leaned against the door, waiting until she heard the footsteps fade to slide down the the floor. It was like her legs had given out on her and all breath had left her. It was all hitting her now and she couldn't just stand up and be mad.

Eponine brought her hand to her mouth as the sobs started. As she thought about how she let herself believe that this was her chance and she'd find her home. How she let herself love a man who was lying to her from the moment she met him. She couldn't move, all she could do was think about how mislead she had been by hope and cry.

* * *

Enjolras stepped out into the brisk air from the theater. He had one last chance to make this right. One last plan. He casually walked over to stand next to a driver who was smoking a cigarette while leaning against the wall.

"Smoking kills you know," Enjolras stated but the man just shrugged and looked over at him.

"Shouldn't you be inside enjoying the show?"

"Ballets aren't exactly my thing," Enjolras answered with a small shrug.

"And I'm sure whoever left that red mark on your face didn't help," he said with a chuckle and Enjolras just turned to look at him, his expression indifferent but inside he was angry, guilty, and even a little heartbroken.

"Who are you stuck driving around?" Enjolras asked simply.

"The Dowager Empress," the man said taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Good," Enjolras said nodding his head, "I was hoping you were her driver."

Before the man could react, Enjolras quickly elbowed him in the face before grabbing his head and cracking it against the wall. Some of the anger in him coming to the surface as he let the man drop unconscious onto the ground, blood dripping from his nose. Enjolras ran a hand through his hair as he bent over to grab the man's hat.

"The ballet's ending, she'll be down soon," Combeferre said appearing from around the corner. He stopped and looked at the motionless man, "What did you do?"

"I broke his nose," Enjolras put the hat on and searched the man's coat for keys, "Most likely gave him a concussion. Do me a favor and put him somewhere he won't get mugged or hurt." With that Enjolras just walked past his friend and spun the keys around his finger walking towards the car. He was not going to take any chances and screw this up.

He sat in the driver's seat and waited for Marie to be escorted out by Cosette's father. He kept his head down as they came closer, subtly nodding as his friends passed the car to get to their own. They were all aware of the plan, but Enjolras wasn't going to let anyone else be involved. He was practically kidnapping a very prominent woman and he wasn't about to drag any of his friends down for this.

Cosette's father opened the car door for her and helped her inside. Enjolras watched through the rearview as they said goodbye and the door closed. Cosette wore a small unsure smile which fell and her eyes widened as she caught sight on Enjolras in the front seat. He brought his finger to his lip, and she looked around like she didn't know what to do.

Enjolras drove normally at first until he rounded the corner and then started to speed to Cosette's house.

"Driver," Marie shouted from the back, "Where are we going?!"

"I'm not your driver," Enjolras said tossing the hate aside.

"You!" She yelled in surprise, "Stop this car immediately."

"We're almost there," Enjolras said calmly as he drove.

"Where?" She demanded and Enjolras slowed to a stop in front of the house and then looked back at the woman.

"Your granddaughter is in there," he said letting out a sigh when she rolled her eyes, "I know my reputation and I know you have no reason to believe me but if you just talk to her you'll see."

"You truly seem convinced of this, young man, even if it is all an act why do you think it's her?" Marie asked with a quirked eyebrow. Enjolras licked his lips and nodded softly as he pulled the music box from his pocket. Marie's face went from doubtful to shocked and she seemed speechless.

"Where did you...,"

"She remembers how the two of you escaped," Enjolras interrupted, "How I led the two of you from the palace through the passage way."

Her eyes flicked up and met his, she still looked doubtful.

"She dropped this when I was rushing you two out," he continued on and held it out to her, "After the guards knocked me out to keep looking for her, I woke up and found this there. It the music box you gave her at the Anniversary Ball."

"You were the servant boy," Marie whispered.

"Dimitri Enjolras," he said quietly before clearing his throat and handing her the box, "Right now, your grand daughter is in this house thinking that all her hope was for nothing, that she was just a pawn in my game. Granted, it started out that way but she is Anastasia. I know you've been looking for a long time, Madame, and I know you don't wish to repeat the pain of disappointment but all I ask if you give Eponine one chance."

Marie looked down at the box for a few moments before nodding her head and looking up at him.

"One chance," she said, "and if this is all a lie, I will press charges for your actions tonight."

Enjolras nodded gratefully. He quickly exited the car and ran around to open her door for her. All the men where sitting on the porch of the house as he walked her up.

"She's inside," Marius said, "Her room is the first room on the right of the second floor."

Marie only nodded and walked into the house without another word to the group.

"How is she?" Enjolras hesitantly asked Marius.

"She doesn't wish to speak to anyone," he answered, "she's planning on leaving in the morning. I could hear her crying for an awfully long time."

Enjolras shut his eyes hard and looked down at the ground. This had to make it right, even if it wouldn't fix things between them he could give her back her family like he had promised.

"Come on," Combeferre said, "I don't think we're welcome here any longer. We'll find a hotel."

"Here," Marius pulled out his wallet and gave them some money, "I'll come see you tomorrow to let you know how it went."

* * *

Eponine laid on her bed, unable to sleep. Her mind wouldn't shut off and every now and then she would start crying again. So she just laid there, trying not to think about the last week or the feelings she had or how everything came crashing down in minutes. Her eyes just stared at the lamp next to her bed like she was in a trance. A soft knock at the door causing her to jump a bit.

"Go away Marius," she said sternly.

"It's not Monsieur Marius," a female voice said causing Eponine to sit up, "It's Marie."

"H-Hold on please," Eponine said as she slipped from the bed and pulled her robe on. What was the Empress doing here? She walked over and slowly opened the door. As soon as the two woman were looking at each other, Marie's mouth dropped and she looked to be in shock.

"How can I help you, Madame?" Eponine spoke quietly.

"May I come in?" Marie said trying to shake the shock from her expression. Eponine nodded and stepped away from the door to open it wider. Marie entered, her eyes looking over Eponine. It was like looking at a memory. She was simply older, but other than that she looked exactly liked Anastasia.

"Enjolras brought me here," Marie started and Eponine let out a sigh, "he's convinced of your identity."

"He probably didn't want to lose out on all the reward money," Eponine said but Marie simply smiled at her.

"He gave me this," she presented the music box and Eponine shrugged, "When my Anastasia was eight years old I gave her this music box. She was very unhappy with my decision to return to Paris and so I had this made for her. There's only one way to open it. A necklace that I also gave her." Eponine's hand went to her chest and rested over where her necklace was.

"On it was a inscription," Marie continued, "Together in Paris."

Eponine's breath hitched and she looked at the woman as she undid the necklace and held it out. Marie looked like she was about to lose her footing, like this was too good to be true. She took the necklace and used it to open the box, a soft song started to play.

"Through the wind, cross the see. Here this song and remember," Marie started singing and Eponine looked up at her, "Soon you'll be home with me..."

"...Once upon a december," Eponine sang finishing the song and nodded, "that was our lullaby."

Marie's eyes filled with tears and she put the music box on the bed and quickly rushed to pull Eponine in for a hug.

"Anastasia," she said through her tears, "it's you. It's really you." Eponine hugged her back, her own tears falling. This time they were tears of happiness. It was true, this was her grandmother. She had a family again, she had a home.

**A/N Sorry this took so long! I was so busy with work. As you can see I gave the fic a makeover, just combined some early chapters and renamed them. Guys things are going to start going down in the next couple chapters as we come to an end.**


	13. The Fight

"Anastasia!" Cosette called out from the end of the hallway the redhead was walking down. She sighed softly when the girl didn't respond and cleared her throat, "Eponine!" She shook her head with a smile when the girl turned around.

"Cosette," she shook her head as the blonde walked quickly towards her, "I'm sorry. What is it?"

"Still not use to hearing your real name," the blonde said pushing some hair from her face.

"It's been a week," Eponine said rolling her eyes, "I'm not use to a lot of things."

"Well let's hope you'll respond to it at the party," Cosette said with a shrug, "The guests are starting to arrive. Are you excited?"

"It wasn't necessary to grandmother to throw a party for me," Eponine said looking down at herself. She was wearing a beautiful pale yellow gown with a light pink sash. Her hair was done up in an extravagant bun fasted with jeweled pins. She might have looked the part, but she didn't feel like herself.

"Nonsense," Cosette said waving away her remark, "reuniting with a loved one always calls for a celebration."

Eponine smiled and gave a soft nod, "Did you want anything when you called?"

"Oh, yes," Cosette's smile fell a little it, "Marius told me that he was allowed to invite all his friends." Eponine let out a frustrated sigh and went to respond but Cosette held up her hand so she could finish.

"I know you still haven't forgiven him or any of the men for what they did, but you live with Marius now and Combeferre works here," Cosette let out a soft sigh and met Eponine's eyes with her pleading ones, "Perhaps now is the time you can at least be civil with them."

"Cosette, what they did...,"

"All turned out for the best," Cosette interrupted, "Remember?"

Eponine rolled her eyes and looked down slightly nibbling on her bottom lip like she always did when she was thinking, "I'll be civil. For tonight."

"Thank you," Cosette said her smile widening again until she looked over Eponine's shoulder and let it falter.

"What?" Eponine said turning slowly around and letting her eyes fall on the blonde man that was walking down the hall. Enjolras came to a stop when he saw them and gave them both a smile and nod.

"I think I'll go find Marius," Cosette said with a nervous giggle before walking away from them. They seemed to be avoiding each other's eyes and the silence between them was tense and only made the aches they both felt worse. Still neither of them went to leave.

"Monsieur Enjolras," Eponine finally said with a soft bow.

"Mademoiselle," he bowed in return, "I hope you're adjusting well."

"Small steps, Monsieur, small steps," she answered with a soft shrug, "Here for the party?"

"No," Enjolras said with a shake of his head.

"Ahh," Eponine said softly, "Picking up your reward then?"

His eyes flicked up to her's in surprise. She really thought he'd still take the reward. Her eyes were so distant and cold, it made his heart drop.

"I should be on my way," he said with a bow of his head.

"Of course," She said as he started to walk away, "Au revoir, Monsieur."

She watched him walk away, letting her hard expression falter and the sadness finally show. Part of her wanted to yell his name and stop him, but the other part was still so mad at him for what he did.

Enjolras made his way downstairs and through the crowd of guests eagerly awaiting the Empress and her granddaughter's entrance. He came to a stop when he saw Combeferre who was greeting with Marius standing next to him.

"Your betrothed is looking for you," he said to Marius who glanced around.

"She know where I am," Marius said smiling and nodding to a passing guest.

"Ah, so it was merely an excuse to leave Eponine and I alone together," he responded and both his friends looked at him with wide eyes.

"How did that go?" Combeferre asked with an eyebrow perked, "She barely even looks at me when we cross paths."

"Still won't speak to me," Marius added.

"She was distant," Enjolras said making sure not to let on how he felt about it, "She assumed I was here to collect the reward."

"Isn't that why Madame Fauchelevant invited you here?" Marius asked.

"Yes, but I didn't take it." Enjolras answered standing straight.

"Why?" Marius questioned but Combeferre just nodded because he knew exactly why.

"Not important," Enjolras said before looking around, "I think I'll be on my way now."

"Not staying for the party?" Marius said stopping his friend.

"I'm less welcome that anyone else in our little group of friends," Enjolras answered simply before walking from the pair. As he left the house he passed a man who just looked at him with a smirk. He slowed for a moment to follow the man with his eyes and his brow furrowed. Had he seen him before?

The party had been going on for an hour or two and Eponine ended up just standing off to the side, unsure of what to do and who to talk to. No one was ignoring her, it was actually the opposite and it was overwhelming. She tried her hardest no to roll her eyes as Combeferre walked over to her.

"Mademoiselle, " he said with a bow which she returned with grace.

"Monsieur Combeferre," she straightened herself, "How can I help you."

"I was hoping for a dance," he said holding out his hand but she only stared at it.

"Anastasia, I beg for only one dance," he said making sure shiver a bit at her real name.

"One," she said as she took his hand. He smiled and led her to the dance floor.

He gave her a spin before placing his hands in the proper places and leading her in the dance.

"Seems you've become a rather good dancer," he said with a soft smile.

"Yes, well, I had a good teacher," she licked her lips and looked away from him.

"Eponine," the name made her head snap back and she looked at him with fire in her eyes which didn't seem to scare him in the least.

"I know you're still mad at all of us, but we do care for you," his eyes were genuine but Eponine scoffed.

"You all used me and manipulated me. It was only by chance and pure luck that Marie ended up truly being my grandmother. You..."

"But we fixed it, did we not?" Combeferre said cutting her off, "We made sure you got your happy ending. Unless there was more you wanted from this journey?" He knew the answer to that question and also knew she'd never answer it honestly.

"Combeferre, I said I would be civil with you and your friends but I'm not ready to forgive any of you yet. Especially Marius and Enjolras," Eponine said quietly and calmly.

"You should reconsider when it comes to Enjolras," Combeferre said causing her to look up at him, "He was the one who faced kidnapping charges to make sure you were reunited with Marie."

"For his reward," she snapped in a whisper.

"He didn't accept the reward," Combeferre said causing her to stop moving.

"He didn't?" She asked with a furrowed brow.

"No," Combeferre stood tall ready to defend his friend, "And you should take into consideration that he's been saving your life since before you can remember."

At that she shook her head and went to ask him what he meant but he walked away leaving her in the middle of the dance floor completely confused. She made her way through the crowed and out the side to entered the porch that overlooked the garden. She let out a couple breaths and tried to get her thoughts straight, but a man walked up to her.

"Princess," he bowed and she moved away from him slightly.

"I'm no princess any longer, Monsieur," she said plainly and he simply smiled in response, "What's your name?"

"Monteparnasse," he said picking up her hand and kissing the back of it. She looked down at him, something wasn't feeling right.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said before looking back into the party figuring out how to get back inside.

"Oh, we've met before," he said and she looked back at him in surprise as he pulled her to him and placed a hand over her mouth as he carried her from the porch and through the balcony.

* * *

Enjolras came running back up to the mansion. He didn't realize till he was back in his apartment where he knew that man from. He saw him at the train station, talking to the conductor. He saw him at the docks wandering around. He could've chalked it all up to coincidence but something didn't feel right at all.

He burst through the doors but two men blocked him off, holding him back and telling him to calm down.

"I have to find the Duchess," he shouted.

"Let him through, he's with me," Combeferre said walking over to them, but once they let him go Enjolras ran the rest of the distance to him.

"Where's Eponine?" he said in a panic.

"I don't know, I thought I saw her wander out to the garden..." Before Combeferre could ask him what was wrong Enjolras ran off in that direction. Marius and Grantaire walked up with confused faces.

"What was that about?" Grantaire said.

"I have no idea." Combeferre said before following after his friend with the others behind him.

* * *

Eponine's screams were still muffled by the man's hand as he carried her, but she stopped screaming and moved her head so that she could bite him as hard as she could.

"Shit," he said as he dropped her, "You're going to pay for that." She backed away from him and turned to run but he was quick to grab her and turn her to face him, shaking him violently.

"I hope you're ready to see your family again," he had an evil smirk.

"I don't think she is," came another voice quickly followed by a punch that cracked Monteparnasse in the jaw. He dropped Eponine who looked up to see Enjolras.

"Enjolras," she said and went to run to him but Montparnasse grabbed her quickly and this time held a knife up to her throat as he stood across from Enjolras. She let out a gasp at the feel of the knife against her skin.

"Should've expected you to show up," he snarled as he fished a gun from his jacket with his free hand. He held it up to Enjolras.

"No," Eponine struggled against him, "Just take me. Please."

"Sorry sweetheart but your little white knight won't give up," he whispered in her ear causing shivers to fly up her spine. Enjolras stood there contemplating his next move until he heard the gun cock and realized he had to make his movie before it was too late.

"You really need to stop getting in the way," Monteparnasse said as he shot the gun. Eponine let out a scream just as someone pushed Enjolras out of the way, the bullet hitting him instead. The black haired man fell to the ground with a grunt. Enjolras rolled over and looked at his savior. Eponine slumped back into her attacker as she saw who it was, the tears welling in her eyes.

"Grantaire!" he yelled and looked up at Monteparnasse with fury in his eyes but the man only pointed his gun at him.

"I wouldn't," Combeferre said as the rest of them came to join the crowd. He looked down at Grantaire who was motionless, "Joly..."

"Don't move," a voise rasped out from the shadows stopping Joly's movements, "No need for this to get any more out of hand."

The figure stepped forward. Combeferre and Enjolras's eyes both widened as Rasputin walked toward them.

"Rasputin," Enjolras said as he stood up, "You're dead."

"Not quite," he said with a chuckle, "and I go by a different name here. I've been going by Thernadier since I've been back."

All the men looked at him, something he seemed thoroughly amused, "Foolish me thinking you'd be out of the picture this time. I've been watching all of you and you, Monsieur Enjolras, seem to always pop up out of no where and ruin things for me. And these men, they follow you so foolishly." He walked over to Grantaire and nudged his body, "Seems they'd even die for you."

Enjolras snarled a little bit as he stepped forward to go after Rasputin but a small cry from Eponine stopped him. He looked over to see Monteparnasse pressing the knife harder against her throat, causing a small line of red to appear.

"I wouldn't," he said with an even smirk at Enjolras.

"Anyway, I have more important matters to attend," Rasputin said as he walked over and ran a finger down Eponine's cheek, her teary eyes beaming with fear, "Time for me to finally complete my revenge."

"You... you killed my family," Eponine asked quietly.

"I orchestrated it," he said with a pleased smile, "but you got away." He looked over at Enjolras then back at her, "And now that you're found. I can finish what I started."

"Monteparnasse, give me the girl and take care of these boys," he ordered as he took Eponine by the arm harshly and started to drag her away into the shadows. His flunky looked all the men over and holding his knife up as he aimed his gun.

"You can't take on all of us," Enjolras said and then looked at Joly, "Check on Grantaire.

"Maybe, but I can still take a few of you out," he replied letting the the man rush to his friend's side, "Or you and I could end this ourselves.

Enjolras looked over at his friends and nodded, "Fine. You kill me and they'll let you and Rasputin go."

"Enjolras," Combeferre stepped forward, "What are you doing?"

"Settling this," Enjolras said glancing at him. Combeferre nodded in comprehension and went to whisper in Marius's ear who then dragged Coureyrac away. Monteparnasse didn't seem to care, he was still smirking at their leader. He dropped the gun as Enjolras shed his jacket.

The fight started fast. Enjolras got the upper hand almost instantly knocking his adversary on the ground. Monteparnasse pulled him in and head butted him hard causing him to fall on his back then went to grab him, but Enjolras kicked him in the stomach and sat on top of him grabbing the sides of his face. He thought of Grantaire while he was fighting and the anger in him only grew. Monteparnasse fought against his movements, but Enjolras soon prevailed and turned his head violently to the side resulting in the sickening snap of his spine cracking.

He stood up and looked down at the man he just killed. He'd deal with the guilt later. He looked back at the two men looking at Grantaire.

"Is he..." He couldn't finish the question.

"He's breathing, but we need to get him to a hospital to stitch this up," Joly said as he applied pressure to Grantaire's wound with his jacket.

Combeferre looked up at his friend, "Are you okay?"

"Just fine," Enjolras said turning to walk down the shadow filled path Rasputin has dragged Eponine down, picking up the dropped gun on his way. Once he was a good enough distance away he reached down to pull out the knife that Monteparnasse was able to stab into his stomach. He let out a grunt but continued until he found the pair. Rasputin was holding some sort of green, glowing tube and Eponine was laying on the round terrified. The blonde man held up the gun and shot Rasputin's hand causing him to drop the green object.

"You can't be serious," Rasputin growled when he saw him.

"What can I say?" Enjolras shrugged slightly, "I'm stubborn."

"You don't have to die for her," he countered.

"I've never been the type to just give up," Enjolras said his face becoming very serious, "I'm more of a 'see it through till the end' kind of man."

"Then your end it will be," Rasputin said.

Their fight was shorter. Rasputin had magic on his side, something Enjolras honestly wasn't expecting. He should've figured that it would be a factor. A normal man couldn't make someone sleepwalk off a boat. He fell to the ground with a grunt and Rasputin stepped down on his stab wound causing Enjolras to yell out.

"Oh look at that," Rasputin said, "You're already doomed." He stepped down harder casing more blood to spill from the wound. A shot rang out from behind them and Rasputin turn to see Eponine holding the gun and aiming it at him. She also had something under her foot.

"No!," he said rushing towards her but she stepped on it and he let out a scream of pain.

"So this is how you're here?" she stepped down at little harder and he fell to the floor.

"This," she caused it to crack, "This is for my family," He clutched at his chest.

"This," she stepped a little harder, "This is for Grantaire... and Enjolras," She glanced over at the motionless man laying on the ground.

"And this, this is for me," she stomped on the vial causing it to shatter, "Dasvidaniya."

He let out more screams and it seemed like he was falling apart, his skin started to melt and his bones were turning to ash. Eponine only watched until there was nothing left of him but his cloak. She stood breathing hard until she was sure he was gone for good. Her eyes flicked up at the man on the ground and she ran over to him.

"Enjolras!," she knelt down beside him, "Are you..."

"Eponine," he muttered out moving his hand from his forcefully expanded stab wound.

"Oh god," she moved and ripped off a part of her dress to press against it, "Help! Please someone help!"

"'Ponine," Enjolras's bloody hand came up to caress her cheek gently, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she whispered leaning into his hand and closing her eyes.

"I need to tell you," he said stopping to take a breath, "I love you Eponine."

Her eyes opened and she looked down at him, "I..." Her words stopped as his eyes fluttered close and his hand fell from her face.

"No!," she pressed down harder and screamed for help.

"Please someone," her cries turned into sobs as she just fell onto him.

**A/N Okay I cried writing this, I'll admit it. Nothing is as it seems, okay? Don't hate me guys, these things have to happen sometimes.**


	14. The Recovery

Eponine wiped the blood from her cheek and stared at her reflection in the mirror. The skin of her face was flushed and pale except for the area around her eyes that was still slightly red from crying. Wild strands of red hair escaped the jeweled pins that her shaky hands were now moving to remove. Her eyes didn't live the mirror as her long hair fell down around her shoulders. She remained focussed on her reflection, on the face of the girl who was the reason for everything that had happened that night. She was the reason Grantaire was shot and Enjolras might die.

"Eponine," Combeferre's soft voice came from the other side of the door, "Are you okay?"

She wanted to laugh at the question but instead cleared and supplied him with a soft, "Yes." He and Joly had found them shortly after Enjolras lost consciousness along with a couple paramedics that Courfeyrac has fetched when Grantaire was shot. Eponine saw the way Combeferre's face paled at the sight of his best friend's limp body on the ground, but he quickly recovered in order to make sure Eponine was okay. With a soft sigh, Eponine collected her thoughts and opened the door to greet Combeferre with a soft, sad smile.

"Any word?" she asked after taking a deep breath. He looked her over with a concerned expression before bring his fist to his mouth and clearing his throat.

"Grantaire should be fine," he started and her face lit up, "It was a clear shot through his shoulder, he'll be released in a few days."

Eponine looked down with a small smile and nodded, "Good. What about Enjolras?"

"They were able to stop the bleeding," Combeferre said and looked away from her like he was unsure of whether or not he should tell her anymore.

"But?" Eponine said catching his gaze.

"He lost a lot of blood, Ep," he answered with a sigh and her face dropped. She could feel the tears welling in his eyes and he must have seen in because his hand gently touched her shoulder and he leaned down a bit to meet her eyes, "Hey, he's a fighter. Enjolras doesn't just give up, we both know that."

Eponine nodded her head with a soft chuckle, "What's next then?"

"They're stitching him up and then they're going to proceed with a transfusion," Combeferre replied gently, "The doctor said that because of the placement of the wound and the danger that would come with any stitches coming loose Enjolras will have to stay here until he's fully healed. Monsieur Fauchelevent said he would cover the cost."

Eponine held her breath as he spoke and released it slowly taking in everything he said. Her head snapped up and peered at the man in front of her, "Can I see him?"

"He's not awake, but I'm sure they'll let you see him before we leave tonight," he answered as they started to walk down the hall.

"Thank you," she said suddenly and he looked down at her with a confused expression, "For being there for me. I know he's your best friend and this can't be easy on you."

He only nodded and looked forward, "There's not much I can do for him, and I know what he'd rather my attention be on."

"Me," she said simply, unsure of what to think about it.

"I'd be there for you either way," Combeferre said with a shrug, "We all care about you, Eponine. You are, as Grantaire puts it, our little princess."

She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips and she nodded. As they rounded the corner, they saw the doctor leaving the room Enjolras was in. He had blood on his coat and was scribbling something down on his clipboard. Eponine looked at Combeferre before walking up to the doctor.

"We'll be preparing him for the transfusion in a few moments," he said not looking up from his clipboard.

"Can I see him?" She asked bluntly. His eyes rose up to meet hers from his clipboard.

"He's not conscious, Mademoiselle," he said with a perked eyebrow.

"I don't care," she said shaking her head and glancing at the door, "I just want to see him before I leave."

The doctor sighed and rolled his eyes, "Very well, but it won't be a pretty sight in there."

She only nodded her head at his words and took a deep breath as her hands shakily reached for the knob on the door. She slowly entered and closed the door behind her, turning and stopping in her tracks. The blood stained sheets came up to his waist leaving his bandaged wound on display. It looked as though all the color was sucked from his skin, and beads of sweat clung to his forehead.

She slowly and quietly made her way over to the bed, as though she was scared of waking him, and slid her hand over his. Her eyes lingered on the wound for a moment before they traveled up to land on his face. His face was peaceful, surprisingly, and his mouth was opened slightly as his chest slowly rose up and gently sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand into her lap, looking down at it.

"I know it was you," she started quietly, "You were the one who snuck me out of the palace and helped me survive the revolution. You just keep saving my life, don't you?" Her eyes flicked from his hand to his face and she felt herself tremble slightly, "You can't die, okay? You need to wake up because there are things I need to tell you. Things you need to know." Her voice broke slightly as she felt some tears well up in her eyes, "Like how I forgive you and ... and you need to wake up so I can tell you that I love you too."

A tear rolled down her cheek and she just closed her eyes. She was so tired of crying but the fear and grief was overwhelming. The door opened and she turned her head to see Combeferre step in.

"Ep...," he stopped as his eyes fell on Enjolras and his face paled a bit before he cleared his throat and reluctantly pulled his eyes up to look at Eponine, "They need to start the preparations."

"Alright," she nearly whispered as she stood slowly. She looked down at Enjolras once more and brushed some of the blonde hair from his face before leaning down and gently placing a light kiss to his forehead. She opened her eyes with a soft gasp as she felt his hand tighten around her's a bit.

* * *

It was a few days later when Grantaire was released and of course a small party was thrown in celebration. Eponine sat one the couch and played with the fabric of her sleeve.

"Should you be drinking?" Combeferre said las Grantaire picked up a bottle of wine.

"It numbs the pain," he answered as he took a swig and narrowed his eyes at the redhead who sat on the couch. Without hesitation he put the bottle down and went to offer his hand to the girl who just looked up at him blankly.

"My little princess, you need to have some fun," he moved his lips a little bit to indicate he want to dance with her.

"How can you dance in your state," she said shaking her head with a smile.

"I'm a wonderful dancer, Ep," he with a smirk, "even with only one arm."

She looked hesitant but accepted his hand and let him pull her from the couch. Her arms wrapped around her neck and his good arm went around her hip. Marius and Cosette joined in the dance soon enough followed by Joly and his new girlfriend Musichetta. After a little Grantaire spun her and she was caught by Courfeyrac who picked her up and spun around causing a small squeal to escape her lips. She was having fun and for once since that horrible night her mind wasn't full of worry over the man that was still confined to a hospital bed and she suspected that was exactly what her friend's wanted.

"Thank you," she said quietly to Grantaire as he sat with a cup of wine. He gave her a smirk and nodded his head before setting down his cup and using his good hand to gently grab hers. She smiled and looked down as he laid a soft kiss to the back of her hand and then squeezed it a bit. She gave him a soft smile acknowledge the serious flicker in his blue eyes.

* * *

"No visitors?!" Eponine yelled as she paced back in forth in the den with Combeferre sitting on the couch just watching her.

"They said those were his wishes."

"It's been three weeks Combeferre!" Eponine said crossing her arms and shaking her head, "Why wouldn't he want visitors?"

"Perhaps he just doesn't want anyone seeing him weak," Combeferre offered causing Eponine to scoff.

"That man is so stubborn, it's not like we didn't already see him bleeding out on the ground," she instantly regretted her words and the flashes of memories they brought back. She looked over at Combeferre who was staring at the ground and cleared her throat, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

"It's fine Ep," Combeferre said shrugging and looking up at her, "Though might I suggest you take your frustration and anger out on him once he's released. I'm sure the fury of a princess will be a wonderful welcome back."

She chuckled a little bit and looked up as her grandmother and Monsieur Fauchelevent walked into the room.

"There's something we'd like to talk to you about," Marie started and Eponine looked at Combeferre with a confused face before turning her grandmother.

"Yes?"

"You snapped at one of the maids for referring to you as Anastasia," Fauchelevent cleared his throat and said.

Eponine looked away and nibbled on her lower lip, "I'm sorry."

"After recents events it's understandable," he said with a sympathetic look.

"Being her got my friend's hurt," Eponine said and made eye contact with Combeferre who looked like he wanted to convince her that it wasn't her fault.

"I know," Marie said with an understand nod, "And it could get you hurt. We're sure there are still people in Russia that are looking for you. In light of such danger, we have a proposal for you."

She looked at the two of them and shifted from foot to foot unsure of what to say.

"Being Anastasia Romanov will be complicated and messy," Fauchelevent began, "It will bring unwelcome attention and put unnecessary pressure on your shoulders. Being Eponine Fauchelevent however..."

"What?" Eponine interrupted with wide eyes, "You don't want me to be Anastasia?"

"You're my granddaughter no matter what?" Marie said cupping her face gently, "I don't need the whole world to know who you are. Especially if you don't want to be that person."

"I'm still me grandmama," Eponine replied softly feeling some tears in her eyes.

"We've arranged it so that you will just be another adopted daughter of my husband," Marie said with a smile which Eponine returned. She wanted to find her family, but something about just being another person was just too enticing to her after everything.

"I'm already eighteen," she said looking at her grandmother's husband.

"Well according to this paperwork here," he pulled some folded pieces of paper from his jacket, "And as far as the law is concerned, you've been my daughter since you were sixteen."

"How did you...," she stopped as something clicked in her head. Only one person worked for Monsieur Fauchelevent that could pull of forging adoption papers so quickly. She turned and looked down at Combeferre who was watching the exchange with a perked eyebrow, "You..."

"Not just me," Combeferre said standing up, "It was a team effort."

Eponine's smile only widened as she wrapped her arms around Combeferre and pulled him into a hug. He was surprised at first but soon returned the hug and gave her a soft smile when she pulled away.

"Thank you," she said and then turned around, "All of you."

* * *

Eponine chewed on her pen as she looked over the book in front of her. Over the last two months, her tutoring sessions with Combeferre was her only distraction from thinking about Enjolras. She'd be able to get a decent job once she had something like a education under her belt.

She was so wrapped up in studying that the knock at the door caused her to jump a little bit. She stood to answer it but the door swung open and Marius stared in with a smile.

"Jesus Marius, what if I was indecent or something," she shook her head and then looked over his expression with an amused look, "The longer you stand there smiling like that, the creepier it gets mon ami."

"He's been released," Marius said and Eponine's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open a little before she ran out the door and past Marius to start moving quickly down the stairs. She grabbed her coat from the hook and threw it on as she ran out the door.

* * *

Enjolras had finally succeeded in convincing Combeferre that he was fully healed and perfectly capable of making himself dinner and looking after himself. The entire time his friend had picked up, he filled him in on all the events he had missed and that Grantaire was already planning a party for him. He hadn't said much about Eponine though, but Enjolras already planned on visiting her in the morning. As much as part of him wanted to avoid it, he need to talk to her about his confession to her when he thought he was going to die.

He heard a knock at his door and let out a sigh. He really just needed the night to get his own thoughts together. You think in the past three months, he had plenty of time to figure it all out but knowing he was only a night away from talking to her made him nervous.

"Combeferre I don't..." he opened the door and was silenced by the redhead who was now pulling his face down so that their lips could meet in a passionate kiss. His mind told him to pull away and talk to her but instead he pulled her closer to him by her hips and used one hand to push the door close behind her. A small smirk played on the edges of his lips as her hands intertwined in his hir and he backed her up against the door. Neither one of them wanted to stop, and neither of them would.

**A/N THIS TOOK SO LONG AND I'M SORRY. I worked all week and then got distracted by more Aaron and his promos for Graceland. Anyway, enjoy and I shall start working on the last chapter.**


	15. The End

Eponine let out a small hum as she started to wake. A warm hand was wrapped around her hip and her head rested on a slowly rising and falling chest. As small smile stretched on her lips as the memories of the previous night entered her head and she slowly opened her eyes. The sunlight flooded in from Enjolras's window and light up the entire room. Her eyes travelled up from the chest her head was resting on to the peaceful face of Enjolras who was still asleep.

No words were spoken the night before. It was like an explosion of every emotion they had experienced since meeting and neither of them wanted to stop it. Her hand came up and ran over the muscles of his well toned chest. Last night was probably the first time she really got to appreciate just how handsome and in shape he was. Her hand traveled down to gently feel the puckered and light pink skin of the scar on his abdomen.

It still made her sad that he almost died because Rasputin was there for her. She got a little bit too lost in her thoughts and gasped when a harm hard interlocked with hers. Eponine looked up and saw Enjolras's sleepy eyes opening and gazing down at her.

"Bon matin," she said and a soft smile grew on her lips as a smirk crept on his.

"Morning," he said quietly, "Have you been taking french lessons?"

"Oui," she giggled lightly, "Combeferre has become my official tutor."

"Is that what your new father hired him for?" Enjolras turned slightly so that he was laying on his side and looking at her.

"You heard?" she asked curiously.

"Combeferre filled me in on some things when he picked me up last night," Enjolras answered simply, "What made you choose it?"

Eponine shrugged slightly and let out a sigh, "I just figured... I could be Anastasia the lost Romanov princess and doomed to a life of paranoia and pressure or I could be Eponine the orphan. Grantaire's little princess."

The both chuckled a little and she brought her hand up to cup his face, her thumb running over some of the stubble that had grown in, "I could be yours."

He regarded her with bright eyes, looking over her features. She seemed radiant laying there in bed with him, the sunlight lighting up her chocolate colored eyes and making her skin glow.

"I would very much like that," he said quietly and admired the smile that widened on her face. He used his hand to bring her face to him so he could give her a soft kiss. Her warm hand slide up his chest and broke the kiss. He kissed her forehead before rolling over and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Eponine gave a soft whine at the loss of warmth, "No, we don't have to get up yet."

"Grantaire is throwing me a party," Enjolras said pulling on a pair of pants and look as she held the sheets to her and sat up, "and I need to thank your new father for covering my hospital bills."

He sat down at the end of the bed and looked back at her. She shook her head softly and gave him a smirk, "The party won't be until tonight and Monsieur Fauchelvent probably isn't even home yet from his business trip."

"He's out of town?" Enjolras tilted his head.

"Oui," she said happily, "he said he had something to take care of before the wedding."

"Oh right," Enjolras ran a hand through his hair, "Marius and Cosette are getting married next week."

"Yes," she said and leaned forward to to gently turn his head to face her, "so there's no rush."

He looked like he wanted to say something but her finger pressed against his lips as she realized there was something she had yet to say, "I love you too."

He was speechless for once in his life and just looked at her with a warm smile. The way they were now made him feel foolish for being nervous to talk to her. Looking at the two of them now, you'd think they spent every day of those three months together. He knew they'd have to talk about everything sooner or later, but it seemed that she would rather enjoy this moment. He leaned forward and captured her lips in another kiss. She took advantage of this and pulled him back down on the bed, letting out a soft giggle at the same time.

Eponine slowly entered the house with Enjolras behind her. She wasn't sure why she was being so sneaky, but she had a feeling that being caught coming home wearing her clothes from yesterday wasn't the most appropriate thing. As they entered the house Combeferre came walking from the den. He looked relieved to see she was home as if he was waiting for her, but they didn't have any lessons. He went to speak but closed his mouth abruptly and looked over the state of his two friends. He perked an eyebrow at Eponine's unkept appearance. Her hair was down and slightly messy and the light blue of the dress she wore the previous day peeked out from under her jacket. His eyes flicked over to Enjolras and a knowing smirk grew on his lips and Enjolras responded with a warning glare.

Eponine stepped forward seemingly uncaring if anyone knew where she spent the night, "Is anyone home?"

Combeferre looked like he just remember something and went to say something but was interrupted by a child's voice, "Eponine!"

She turned and her eyes went wide as a small blonde boy came running excitedly towards her. "Gavroche!" She exclaimed and knelt down to meet him with a hug. Enjolras looked on a bit confused at first but soon remembered Marius telling him about the boy always looked after at the orphanage. Monsieur Fauchelevent also appeared and Eponine stood up and looked at him.

"This was your business trip?"

"Marius told me about him," the old man said before glancing over at Enjolras, "Ah, Monsieur Enjolras, you've finally returned to us. All healed up?"

"I'd say he's in a more than adequate condition," Combeferre said with an amused smile and his friend gave him another glare.

"I'm much better now, yes," Enjolras met the man's gaze with a grateful smile, "I appreciate you covering the hospital bills, Monsieur, I'll be sure to pay you back as soon as I can."

"Nonsense, keep your money," he insisted. The two started to engage in a conversation as Combeferre gently took hold of Eponine's arm and pulled her aside.

"What the..."

"You might want to excuse yourself to... Clean yourself up a bit," he said cutting her off.

"Excuse me?," she questioned and narrowed her eyes.

"Your grandmother will be joining us shortly and she'll recognize your dress from yesterday," he pointed out, "We can entertain Gavroche in the meantime."

"Oh," she said with a nervous chuckle before slowly excusing herself from the room to rush upstairs. Combeferre looked over at Enjolras and just shook his head.

"Ahh there's our fearless leader," Grantaire said walking inside the house, "I was wondering if we'd ever see you again. Why no visitors, Enjolras? Didn't want us seeing you all weak?"

Enjolras leaned against the roll and regarded his friend with a roll of his eyes, "Something like that."

"Oh come on," Grantaire removed his jacket and walked over to his friend, "Out of everyone I think I had a right to see you. I mean, since I saved your life and all."

Enjolras nodded his head and looked down at the ground with a slightly guilty look, "Thank you."

Grantaire patted his shoulder, "Relax, I'm only kidding. And your welcome."

They both turned at the sound of heels on the stairs and smiled at the appearance of Eponine now in a green dress with her hair done up.

"My little princess," Grantaire ran over and pulled her into a hug, spinning her around before setting her down, "Don't you look as ravishing as ever."

"Merci, Monsieur Grantaire," she giggled as she smoothed out her dress, "I see you have your strength back."

"Yes!" he exclaimed moving his arm around, "And I've been waiting to do that."

"Maybe you shouldn't have kept pulling your stitches," Combeferre added from the end of the hallway.

"I was drunk," Grantaire shot back with a chuckle.

"When aren't you?" Enjolras added with a perked eyebrow, "I can smell it on you now."

"Well yes," Grantaire turned back to his other friend, "If you must know I did indulge in a few pre-party drinks."

Before Enjolras could reply Courfeyrac came running in with Gavroche on his back. Eponine jumped back a little so they wouldn't run into her.

"Welcome back," Courfeyrac said with a smile to which Enjolras responded with a nod and a smile.

"Were you two getting into trouble?" Eponine said looking down at the blonde boy.

"Of course not," Courgeyrac answered giving Eponine an innocent smirk.

"Enjolras!" They all turned to see Joly walking in with Musichetta on his arm. Enjolras stood straight and smiled before looking over the new woman.

"It's good to see you," Joly smiled and then looked at his girlfriend and back to his friend, "Oh Enjolras, this is Musichetta. She was one of the ballet dancers from when we went..."

He stopped talking as some more guilt filled Enjolras's eyes. Everyone stood awkwardly and silent, even Eponine licked her lips and looked down at the ground. They still had yet to talk about the night at the ballet and the calm that was created by their night together was slowly being replaced by tension.

"Of course," Enjolras cleared his throat and gently took her hand to kiss the back of it, "You were the lead, weren't you? You're very talented."

"Merci Monsieur," Musichetta said with a smile, happy that the tense silence had been broken.

An hour or so had passed when Enjolras pulled Eponine from the room and led her to the kitchen. After catching up with his old friends and meeting some of the new ones, including a poet named Jehan that Eponine met at a cafe and a witty man named Bathorel who met Combeferre and Eponine after getting into a fight because someone wouldn't leave her alone.

"What are you doing?" Eponine question as he let go of her arm, he looked at like he was trying to figure out what to say and she let out a soft sigh, "Don't."

"We haven't talk about it," he said giving her a guilty look.

"I forgive you," Eponine said with a warm smile and looked up into his blue eyes, "Not just because of what happened with Rasputin... Thernadier... whatever you want to call him. What you did, your plan to pass me off as Anastasia broke my heart because I trusted you and... I fell for you."

His eyes dropped a little but she leaned down to catch his gaze again, "That day before the party when I saw you, it hurt because I didn't want to be mad at you. In the end you still reunited me with my family. Plus, if it weren't for you I wouldn't be here today."

"I do have a habit of saving your life," Enjolras said with a small smirk.

"That you do," Eponine's smile widened, "So can we please just move on from everything that happened?" She brought her hand up to his cheek and regarded him with bright eyes, "Figure out what we'll do now that our lives aren't in constant danger."

He chuckled and looked at the the doorway for a minute before returning his eyes to hers and using his hand to gently tip her head up so he could easily capture her lips with his.

"Hmm," they both broke apart and turned to see Grantaire bringing a bottle to his lips with a satisfied smile, "You guys don't have to sneak away, you know. We already know about your little sleepover."

Eponine tilted her head and the tipsy man as Enjolras let out a sigh, "Combeferre."

The rest of the night almost went on without any complications. Another new person came by, someone Joly had befriended named Bossuet. Then Lesgle, who was late because of a flat tire, arrived with Feuilly.

A few hours into the night, Eponine was dancing with Jehan as Enjolras sat on the couch with a drink in his hand. It was nice to see her so happy, it made him wonder what all he missed out on during those three months.

He felt someone sit down next to him and turned to see Bathorel greeting him a smile, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Nothing too bad I hope," Enjolras replied as he took a sip of his drink.

"Some good, some bad," Bathorel shrugged and then looked over at Eponine, "She's a lovely girl."

Enjolras followed his gaze and caught Eponine dancing happily with Marius while Jehan was twirling Cosette, "That she is."

"I know she forgave you for what you did," Enjolras snapped his gaze back to the man next to him as he spoke, "but if I ever see her cry because of you, we're going to have words."

Enjolras raised an eyebrow and only nodded, "Duly noted, but I don't intend to cause any tears."

"Doesn't matter if they're intended or not," Bathorel said with a smirk and leaned back on the couch."

"I'll be sure to remember that," Enjolras said before turning his attention to the giggling redhead that was walking over to him and offering her hand. He shook his head causing her to give him a small pout. He was suddenly filled with an impulse to stand up and kiss the pout away.

"Come on," Grantaire yelled as he twirled Musichetta over to Joly, "Nothing's wrong with a little fun, Enjolras. No need for that marble disposition any longer."

Enjolras's eyes flicked over the drunkard then back to the woman in front of him and a smile twitched at the ends of his lips. He quickly downed his drink and took her hand, causing her smile to widen causing her dimples to show more. He smiled in turn and twirled Eponine before pulling her back to him.

Enjolras leaned back in his chair and watched on as everyone else danced at the reception. Marius and Cosette were married now and the happy couple were inseparable the entire night. He heard a squeal and turned to see Bathorel picking up Eponine and spinning her around. He pursed and looked around. They were all settling down now that they had made it to Paris, but something about that seemed off to Enjolras.

Eponine came over fanning at her face. She was wearing a lavender colored bridesmaid dress that fit to her torso and came down in soft drapes from her waist down. She laughed as she sat down and looked over at him.

"What's wrong with you?" she question and looked over and just narrowed his eyes at her, "Uhm... you've got that look on your face like you're trying to figure something out."

"Marius and Cosette are married," he said.

"Yes... yes, they are," she said tilting her head and furrowing her brow.

"Joly and Musichetta are moving in together."

"Again, yes they are," she was struggling to understand where he was going with this.

"Doesn't it make you think about us?" he asked looking over her face.

"What are you talking about?" She asked with a nervous laugh but he only smiled in response.

An hour later they stood on the deck of a ferry getting ready to take off across the English Channel. She let out a laugh as she let her hair fall down over her shoulders. She was still wearing her dress and he was still in his tuxedo, but they both had two small bags that they packed in a rush. Enjolras had let Combeferre know where they were going while Eponine asked Courfeyrac to keep an eye on Gavroche while she was gone. Other than that, all that was left to let the others know where they was was a note Eponine had left for her grandmother.

"So England and then where?" Eponine asked as Enjolras draped his suit jacket over his shoulder.

"Who knows?," he said with a smug look on his face, "That's the whole point of this."

"An adventure," Eponine said with a giggle as he kissed the back of her hand. One journey had come to an end, but this was a new beginning. One of a new life, family, and home. It was a new beginning of her time with him. She let out a laugh as he bowed in front of her and offered his hand. She took it with a small curtsy and he twirled her around before letting his hand fall on her hip while the other interlocked with hers. They started to just happily dance around.

"No idea when we'll come home?" Eponine asked.

"None," Enjolras answered simply, "but at least we have a home to come back too."

"I already like this little adventure," she laughed.

He smiled as he pulled her close to him, "It's only the beginning." His hands were warm on hers and his words were like a soft whisper as she looked up at him. Pulling one hand from his she pulled his face towards hers and captures his lips in a kiss.

**A/N Okay wow. I didn't want to finish this chapter because I had so much fun writing this story and now it's over (cries), but I am going to be starting a new e/e fic which some might have already seen the graphics for on my tumblr. I just want to thank everyone for all the incredibly wonderful feedback and I appreciate all the the kind words. I hope you enjoyed the story and enjoyed the ending. I forgot to add the rest of L'Amis in where I had originally planned so I threw them in here because they're all worth mentioning. Thank you all! Love you guys so much!**


End file.
